Federation Council ratifies trade agreement between EAEU, Mongolia

MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - The Russian Federation Council ratified a temporary trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Mongolia at its meeting on Friday.

The deal is designed to form the basis for a free trade area and an economic and trade partnership between the parties.

"Currently, the discussions are around the limited range of products included in the deal (367 tariff lines). However, the tax regime will encompass 90% of mutual trade between Russia and Mongolia. At the same time, 89% of Russian exports will be shipped to Mongolia without duties. This includes food, fertilizers, polymer products, a range of ferrous metals and motor vehicles," the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said.

The ministry said again that Russia was the second biggest exporter to the Mongolian market. As a result, the average duties to export to the Mongolian market will be reduced from 6% to 0.2% for the goods included in the agreement, allowing Russian businesses to save up to 8 billion rubles per year.

"Mongolia only has one preferential agreement. The EAEU, being one of the first, is essentially reserving exclusive conditions for operating on the Mongolian market. This means Russia will be able to double trade with Mongolia by 2030," Deputy Economic Development Minister Vladimir Ilyichev is quoted as saying by the ministry's press service. The press release also says that the parties are hoping to move forward to signing a fully formatted free trade agreement in the future.