Russia, Iran may initial free trade agreement in March
TEHRAN. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran may initial a free trade agreement as soon as March.
"We will do everything in order to arrive at the initialing of an agreement by the time Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits Russia [planned for the end of March]," First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said in Tehran.
"Agreement was reached that the Iranian delegation will provide their comments concerning this text, which was prepared by the Eurasian Economic Commission, on Monday and on Wednesday talks will be held in Moscow on the details of this agreement," Shuvalov said.
As earlier reported, at the end of December the presidents of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries approved launching negotiations on free trade agreements with a host of countries, including Iran.
During the talks on Tuesday, the sides discussed "which goods positions are of most interest to Iran, which are of interest to the countries in the EEAU, what we must do about lowering tariffs," Shuvalov said. "We reached agreement that in any case, whatever tariff protections are maintained, we will assume the obligation not to apply any non-tariff restrictions on the movement of goods. We also reached agreement that a joint commission would be created to monitor agreement implementation and to resolve any disputes that may arise," he said.
Russia also pointed to the need for Iran to complete all internal state procedures concerning the agreement on mutual investment protection. "I hope that in the near future it will enter force," Shuvalov said.
