Eurasian Economic Union to start negotiations with Serbia on harmonizing trade regime
ASTANA. May 31 (Interfax) - The Eurasian Economic Union's (EAEU) Supreme Eurasian Economic Council has decided to start negotiations with Serbia on the unification of the trade regime, Eurasian Economic Commission Chairman Tigran Sarkisyan said.
"Today a decision was adopted about the start of negotiations with the Republic of Serbia on unifying the EAEU and its member states' trade regimes with that country," Sarkisyan said in a statement for the press following a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on Tuesday in Astana.
Currently, only three countries of the EAEU have an agreement on free trade with Serbia, namely Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, with some provisions of those agreements differing for each country, Eurasian Economic Commission Trade Minister Veronika Nikishina said.
A similar preferential trade regime between Serbia and Armenia and Kyrgyzstan has not yet been established, and that is why bilateral trade in goods between those countries proceeds on a most-favored basis. For example, the same customs duty rates are applied as those set up for other partner countries in the WTO.
"According to the results of the negotiations that we have been instructed to begin, we must reach new agreement on free trade between the EAEU and its member states and the Republic of Serbia. Thus, Serbia's trade regime with all EAEU countries will be the same," Nikishina said.
"In addition, this is an ideal moment for us to discuss new conditions and look at what kinds of other goods from EAEU countries could be supplied to Serbia and ask for more favorable terms for those products," she said.
The Eurasian Economic Commission believes that, since a preferential regime with three EAEU countries already exists, the negotiations could take place in a dynamic mode. "But as of now, we cannot make any estimates of when a new agreement may be reached and come into force," Nikishina said.
