On May 1, the free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association and Georgia entered into force for Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Georgia and the EFTA states – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – signed the free trade agreement in June 2016, it entered into force on September 1, 2017. At that stage, the agreement entered into force only among Georgia, Iceland and Norway.
The agreement is aimed at boosting trade relations between the contracting parties. Particularly, it envisages that Georgian goods will be exported without tariff barriers to the EFTA states.
The first round of negotiations was held in Georgia in September 2015, while the second round took place in December 2015.
Georgia successfully completed its third and final round of negotiations with the EFTA in February 2016.
Five European Union experts have recently visited Kyrgyzstan to conduct workshops on EU import and export standards within GSP+ frame regulations in Bishkek and Osh.
The workshops were conducted for the representatives of the state institutions, agencies and ministries in Bishkek on 23-25 April and in Osh on 26-27 April.
The experts presented the EU import, export and quality check standards of agro-products and products of animal origin as well as the EU customs clearance procedures, the EU certification system, the taxation regulation on imported products and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points approach.
The visit of the mission and workshops were organized and funded by the Technical Assistance Information and Exchange Instrument of the European Commission in co-operation with the Ministry of Economy, the State Inspectorate on Veterinary and Phytosanitary Security under the Kyrgyz Government and the EU Delegation to Kyrgyzstan. It is the third TAIEX mission to Kyrgyzstan. Two similar missions visited Kyrgyzstan in 2017.
It’s worth noting that Kyrgyzstan has significantly benefited from the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences, a bilateral trade arrangement through which the EU provides preferential access to its market to developing countries and territories, in the form of reduced tariffs for their goods when entering the EU market.
The Prime Minister of Moldova Pavel Philipp will visit Brussels between May 2 and 6 at the fourth reunion of the Association Council of the Republic of Moldova and the European Union. The development within the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Zone and the economic cooperation aspects between the Republic of Moldova and the EU will be discussed among other issues.
European trade standards will be implemented for the post-Soviet markets
