From 20 to 24 April 2026, delegations from the EFTA States and Viet Nam met in Hanoi for the 20th round of negotiations on a free trade agreement.

Sveinung Røren, Chief Negotiator and Director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of Norway, acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while Le Trieu Dung, Chief Negotiator and Director-General at the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, headed the Vietnamese delegation.

The parties held in-depth discussions on trade in goods, intellectual property rights (IPR), trade and sustainable development (TSD), trade in services, investment, rules of origin, legal and horizontal issues, government procurement (GP), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), and technical barriers to trade (TBT).

The chapters on small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperation and capacity building, and trade facilitation had been concluded during intersessional meetings held ahead of the negotiation round. During the round, the parties concluded on rules of origin, trade in services, investment, TSD, SPS and TBT. Further work is still needed on GP, IPR, legal and horizontal issues, and trade in goods at both technical and political level.

Both sides acknowledged the significant progress made during the round and agreed on the next steps to resolve the remaining issues, with a view to bringing the negotiations to a conclusion in the summer.

Source: WTO Center and Integration

• 19th Round of Negotiations - 24 to 27 February 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland
• 18th Round of Negotiations - 25 to 28 November 2025 in Da Nang, Viet Nam
• 17th Round of Negotiations - 8 to 10 September 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland
• 16th Round of Negotiations - 29 May to 1 June 2018 in Oslo, Norway