Importing From India to Viet Nam

Viet Nam is one of the world's biggest rice exporters, and it buys rice from India. In January 2021 Vietnamese firms signed for 70,000 tonnes of Indian 100% broken rice for animal feed, the first such deal in decades. "The product is very cheap, while the demand for this type of rice in Vietnam is high," said Pham Thai Binh of Trung An hi-tech agriculture (VietnamPlus, January 2021 (opens in a new tab)). Three years later, after India restricted white rice exports, Viet Nam was buying Indian husked brown rice to polish and sell on (ThePrint, from Reuters, February 2024 (opens in a new tab), Reported).

That's the pattern for Vietnamese buyers of Indian goods. You buy inputs that get processed and often exported again, and Indian government policy can open or shut the tap overnight. This page covers only what's specific to Viet Nam. The shared AITIGA rules, the origin test and the review are on the ASEAN bloc page. Viet Nam as India's competitor for your orders is a different question, and it belongs on a comparison page.

Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 24 November 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom

The decision in brief is in the playbook: Exporting and trade → /india/#trade. The shared rules are on the ASEAN bloc page.

1. AITIGA Is the Only Route

Viet Nam has no bilateral goods agreement with India, so AITIGA is the preference, and Viet Nam's schedule is posted with the others (commerce.gov.in, India-ASEAN agreements (opens in a new tab)). Viet Nam's own trade ministry is one of the better sources on the review. It reported the 12th Joint Committee in Jakarta aiming at "substantial conclusion" (Viet Nam Ministry of Industry and Trade (opens in a new tab)), so it's worth watching for the outcome.

2. The Tap Is on the Indian Side

The rice story matters more than any tariff. India restricted white rice exports in 2023 and Viet Nam's buyers switched to husked brown rice within months, which is the kind of move only a buyer watching Indian export rules can make. So check DGFT's current export policy for your line before you sign a forward contract, not after. The export side is covered on Exporting from India.

3. What Viet Nam Buys From India

Food, not fashion. In 2023, the latest year Viet Nam reported, rice was 10.6% of its imports from India, meat 9.0% and animal feed 8.7%. India was Viet Nam's first supplier of meat (34.8%) and fish (14.8%), and Viet Nam recorded US$5,860.3 million of imports from India that year (our analysis of UN Comtrade, queried 23 September 2026). India's own figures are fresher. Exports to Viet Nam reached US$6.67 billion in FY2025-26, up 22.78%, one of India's five fastest-growing destinations (PIB, 15 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)).

So Indian food exporters know the Vietnamese market well, and certificate paperwork for rice, meat and feed should be routine for them. For anything else, expect less practice on the supplier's side and ask to see a past AITIGA certificate for Viet Nam.

4. Back to the Broken Rice

The 2021 buyers didn't need a trade agreement to make that deal work. They needed cheap Indian supply and a use for it at home. If you're buying Indian inputs to process, the risk isn't the tariff, it's India changing its export rules halfway through your season. Keep a second source, and keep an eye on DGFT. If you'd like someone to handle the certificate and the booking from India, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does that.

Next Step

Every Indian agreement is on India's trade agreements.