News - Armenia government approves EAEU-Iran free trade agreement

At its Cabinet meeting Thursday, the Armenian government approved the signing of the agreement on free trade between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran. The main tasks of this agreement are: -              Using the regulatory part of the Interim Agreement within the free trade agreement as a basis for negotiations to significantly improve the regulatory environment. -              Ensuring duty-free access to the Iranian market for the maximum possible range of products, while ensuring that the access conditions contained in the Interim Agreement are not worsened in the event of the impossibility of reaching agreements on the elimination of import duties. In terms of agricultural products, the proposals presented by the Armenian side mainly include those products that are of primary interest for Armenia's export and that also have a large share in the exports from Armenia to Iran, in particular: mineral and carbonated waters, non-alcoholic beverages, chocolate, confectionery, tobacco, and mutton, which will be subject to zero import duties to Iran. As for industrial products, the proposals submitted by the Armenian side mainly include those products that are of primary interest for Armenia's export and that also have a large share in exports from Armenia to Iran, in particular, mineral raw materials (copper and zinc ore, molybdenum ore), silver items, copper anodes, steam generators, electronic cigarettes, thermostats, etc. Access to the Iranian market will also be liberalized for electricity and used batteries, and customs duties for importing jewelry and medicines to Iran will be reduced. Regarding some agricultural products which are most sensitive for the economy of Armenia, it has been proposed to maintain and apply seasonal tariff quotas for imports into the EAEU territory: pepper, eggplant, watermelon and melon, as well as tariff quotas for plastic products in industry.