The European Union–Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) represents one of the most comprehensive and ambitious trade agreements that the European Union (EU) has signed with a developing country. For Viet Nam, signing the EVFTA is not only a milestone in international economic integration but also a catalyst for significant legal and institutional reforms. This paper examines how Viet Nam has made efforts to overcome regulatory measures beyond the EVFTA in several critical areas such as labour rights, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, intellectual property and sustainable development to make the most use of the EVFTA. This study evaluates Viet Nam’s policy changes, highlights the remaining gaps and proposes policy recommendations to ensure full compliance with EVFTA commitments while maintaining Viet Nam’s competitiveness in the EU market.
This study examines how public-private collaborations and information and communication technology (ICT) reforms can enhance intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement and generate social value within the National Customs Service of Ecuador (SENAE). Drawing on New Public Management and value co-creation frameworks, it employs a qualitative case study using interviews with customs officials, legal practitioners and the National Intellectual Rights Service (SENADI), supported by secondary data. Findings reveal structural and operational barriers, including legal ambiguities, inadequate inter-agency coordination, limited training and outdated ICT infrastructure. The study identifies automated trademark registration, integrated communication platforms and joint training programs as critical reforms, and explores the socially responsible reuse of seized counterfeit goods. It contributes to public administration literature by proposing a collaborative, technology-enabled enforcement model that aligns consumer protection, brand integrity and social value creation in customs administrations in developing countries.
The illicit tobacco trade (ITT) undermines public health policies and economic stability in many countries, including Malaysia. Countries such as Malaysia impose steep taxes and stringent regulations to limit smoking-related damage. Still, these efforts create underground trafficking networks. Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown practical potential in this battle by improving enforcement, tracing illegal supply chains and safeguarding national revenue. These technologies enable more effective disruption of illegal activities through AI-powered web crawlers, natural language processing and predictive analytics. AI-powered public reporting systems enhance real-time monitoring and enforcement strategies. This conceptual paper is based on a strategic literature review and policy analysis. Evidence from enforcement practices, such as AI-enabled customs scanning systems, highlights the practical applicability of these technologies. AI development must address data privacy, system integration and ethical issues, supported by federated learning, edge computing, zero data retention and secure in-country data infrastructure. A framework combining government policies, public-private partnerships, AI-enabled reporting systems and regional exchanges can stimulate AI’s contribution to enforcement. Supported by innovation and ethical governance, AI can strengthen Malaysia’s efforts to combat the ITT while supporting sustainable governance, economic stability and public health. This study synthesises existing evidence and proposes a context-specific AI-driven enforcement framework for Malaysia.
This article offers a theoretical analysis of customs law as an autonomous branch of law, examining its legal and scientific dimensions. It argues that customs law governs distinct legal institutions and is structured around specific guiding principles that differentiate it within the broader legal system. The central thesis advanced is that the principle of the supremacy of the national interest constitutes the fundamental organising norm of customs law, encompassing a multifaceted conception of national interest that balances public interests, the private interests of nationals, and objectives of national development. Through a systematic examination of customs law’s relationship with public law and private law, the article demonstrates its dual character and institutional autonomy. It further identifies specific principles of customs tax law that operate as substantive limits on the incidence of internal taxation. The article concludes that customs law constitutes a distinct scientific discipline, endowed with its own organising principles.
The growth in textiles imports affects the amount of textile waste in the European Union (EU), which is steadily increasing. The EU is the global leader in used textile exports. Handling textile waste is one of the top priorities of the EU circular economy, and action points have been developed to address this issue to ensure better control of the international trade in used textiles. This article employs the gravity model to analyse the factors affecting the flow of used textile from the EU to top destinations in non-EU countries. It demonstrates that the core gravity model variables, namely the economy size of the importing and exporting countries as well as the distance between them, are economically insignificant while environmental stringency and the level of environmental taxation proved to have the strongest effect on higher export volumes of used textiles. Higher import flows to the countries with higher import taxes on used textiles require further research.
