Tehran, Iran, July 15
Trend:
The Georgian government seeks to draft a bill to limit imports of Iranian goods to support the country's domestic production.
The Iranian ambassador in Georgia Javad Ghavam Shahidi discussed the issue in an interview with Trend.
"Georgia seeks to implement European standards to improve its ranking in the European Union and hasten its membership in the EU. Restriction on imports is due to this reason, and it is not related exclusively to Iranian goods," he said.
"Thus, the new decision of Georgian government is not connected with the US sanctions against Iran, it is conditioned by new standards. For example, Georgia used to import cement from Iran, but now the product is kept in the customs for a month for proper examination of the quality of cement. Such an approach will make the trade with Iran difficult," he said answering the question whether the bill is connected with the US sanctions against Iran.
According to the ambassador, Iran exports cement, steel, glass, construction material and bitumen to Georgia and supplies more than 90 percent of Georgia's bitumen market.
"At the moment, there are problems with steel cement and rebar exports to Georgia, and it is expected that the restriction will also affect other Iranian goods," he said.
"We have not held any official meeting over the issue with Georgia so far. According to the Georgian side, previously, they imported goods based on their own standards, while now European standards will be applied," he added.
Iranian news agency IRNA recently reported that Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture has notified its chambers across Iran about the bill and asked them to take necessary measures to prevent possible harmful effects. As noted, the aim of Georgian government bill is to confront dumping in international trade.