BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 30. The implementation of duty-free access will enable the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to enhance the exportation of specific commodities to the Iranian market, Head of the Special Trade Regulation Issues Department at the Trade Policy Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Kira Danilcheva told Trend.
According to her, a full-fledged free trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU was signed in December 2023.
She said that the agreement significantly expands the scope of trade, providing preferential access for almost 90 percent of goods.
Additionally, the agreement improves tariff conditions compared to the Temporary Agreement, which did not allow tariff reductions on Iranian goods below four percent, the EEC representative explained.
Danilcheva pointed out that trade between the parties is growing in both directions: the export of EAEU products to Iran is steadily increasing, and Iranian products are gradually expanding on the EAEU market.
"Given the traditional export specialization of the EAEU economies, it is expected that duty-free access will boost exports to Iran of such goods as cereals, meat products, dried vegetables, ice cream, chocolate, confectionery, etc.
In the industrial goods category, access conditions have been improved for products such as metal goods, timber processing industry products, chemical industry products, various transport vehicles, agricultural equipment, household appliances, and so on," she added.
To note, since 2019, trade between EAEU member states and Iran has been conducted under the preferential regime established by the Temporary Agreement, leading to the creation of a free trade zone between the EAEU and Iran, signed on May 17, 2018. The full-fledged free trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU was signed in December 2023. EEC Chairman Bakyttjan Sagintayev, during a meeting with Iran's Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade, Seyed Mohammad Atabak, mentioned that the EEC expects the full agreement with Iran to enter into force soon.
Additionally, on December 26, following the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg, Iran was granted the status of an observer state in the EAEU.