On September 24, the EU Council gave final approval to autonomous trade measures for Armenian goods, a step that will liberalize about 80% of Armenia’s exports to the European Union. The update was announced by Ani Badalyan, spokesperson for international cooperation at Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
Badalyan said the regulation makes Armenia the only country to receive this kind of economic preference without holding EU candidate status or having a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement with the bloc. She said the move reflects the exceptionally high level of Armenia-EU partnership and is in line with the declaration of the first Armenia-EU summit and the Strategic Partnership Agenda.
Once the regulation enters into force, the preferential regime will remain valid for two years. Before that, it must be signed by the presidents of the European Parliament and the EU Council and then published in the Official Journal of the EU. It will take effect the following day.
Under the EU regulation, import duties will be suspended for a broad range of goods, including certain agricultural products. The measure is expected to help diversify Armenia’s foreign trade, widen EU market access for Armenian products and deepen economic and trade cooperation between Armenia and the European Union.
Earlier, on September 2, the EU Council backed the draft without amendments. The European Parliament approved the document at a plenary session on September 15, and on September 23 it was adopted by the EU Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives of the member states.
