Vietnam has applied import quotas on rice, tobacco materials and motorbike components from Laos this year, local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times reported on Friday.

Under a recent decision of the Vietnamese Trade Ministry, the quota on rice and tobacco materials is 30,000 tons and 3,000 tons respectively, while that on motorbike components is equivalent to 600,000 U.S. dollars.

The trade between Vietnam and Laos, which was at 165 million U. S. dollars in 2004, stood at nearly 80 million dollars in the first half of 2005.

Laos exported nearly 48 million dollars worth of goods, mainly wood, tobacco materials, monosodium glutamate and dairy products, to Vietnam in the six-month period.

Source: Xinhua