MOSCOW, 18 March (BelTA) – The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran have extended an interim agreement on free trade zone and agreed to intensify the preparations to sign a permanent agreement, BelTA learned from the press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
“The second round of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran was held in Tehran to replace the current interim agreement. According to the interim agreement, a significant part of mutual trade is already carried out in a preferential regime,” the press service said.
“Most of the work to prepare the regulatory part of the agreement has been completed. We have begun discussing the lists of goods that will be subsequently traded in a duty-free regime. We have agreed with our Iranian colleagues to continue the work on preparation of the agreement and to hold the next round of negotiations in Moscow in late April,” said Anton Tsetsinovsky, head of the office on special issues of trade regulation of the Trade Policy Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission. He stressed that an important outcome of the visit to Tehran is the signing of a protocol on the extension of the interim agreement, the implementation of which will ensure a ‘seamless' transition to a full free trade regime.
The interim agreement enabling formation of a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Islamic Republic of Iran was signed on 17 May 2018 and enacted on 27 October 2019. The trade between the EAEU and Iran amounted to $5.037 billion in 2021, up by 73.5% as against 2020. Exports surged by 2.1 times, imports - by 28.8%.
