Vietnam extended its 3,000-ton duty-free quota for Cambodian dried tobacco leaf for 2021 as part of the renewal of the Bilateral Trade Facilitation Agreement for 2021-2022 reached by the 18th Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission meeting last December and yet to be formally ratified, with retroactive benefits for exports.
Cambodia is to export 3,000 tons of tobacco leaf to Vietnam each year since the two countries signed the agreement in 2016. In addition to Vietnam, buyers of Cambodian leaf include Indonesia, Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, South Africa, Greece, Singapore, and Germany.
In 2020, Cambodia exported 5,821 tons of tobacco leaf, a 14% drop from the 6,770 tons in 2019. Tobacco leaf exports in 2020 brought in US$17.46 million, a 28% from 2019’s US$24.37 million.