The temporary free trade agreement (three-year term) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran is expected to be signed by the end of May, Hovhannes Azizyan – Armenia’s deputy minister of economic development and investments, said.
EAEU-Iran free trade deal expected to be signed by the end of May
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 23, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS:“At the moment the agreement is at inner-state procedures, we are moving forward quite fast. We hope the agreement will be signed by the end of May and will come into force in several months. I am convinced that by the end of year the document will come into force”, he said.
According to the agreement there will be non-tariff regulation facilitations and reduction of tariffs for a group of products: Armenia is highly interested in the exports of these products. The deputy minister said in some cases the customs duties will decrease by nearly three times.
“The agreement is about the privileges given to 400-500 goods in both sides. Coming to the Armenian goods, if we look at commodity groups, the talk is about 13-14 group of products, and we are highly interested in the export of these goods”, Hovhannes Azizyan said. In particular, the agreement includes products, such as mineral waters, non-alcoholic drinks, chocolate, sweets, textile, jewelry, meat products and etc.
As for the non-tariff regulations, they will remove the additional restrictions on the aforementioned products in the Iranian market which is quite protected and directed for boosting the domestic production.
Asked whether there are calculations how much will export from Armenia to Iran increase after the agreement comes into force, the deputy minister said: “Of course, calculations have been carried out, it’s impossible to sign a free trade deal without that. According to our estimates it will significantly affect Armenia’s export to Iran, at this stage I can only say the word “significantly”. We have quite a great potential in terms of the export of goods presented by us. What we have now is quite the small part of what we plan to export in the future”.
