EAEU, Iran clear almost all issues on free trade area, only some agricultural issues left - EEC

MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran have agreed upon virtually all issues in their negotiations on a free trade area, and only a few positions related to the agricultural sector have to be cleared, the Eurasian Economic Commission's (EEC) trade unit said following EEC Trade Minister Andrei Slepnyov's visit to Tehran.

"The main purpose of the visit was to consider key aspects of negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran at the level of delegation heads. The parties reviewed modalities of the understandings needed for finalizing the negotiations and signing an agreement. All issues have been agreed upon except for mutual access to the market of certain categories of agrarian produce, on which they agreed to continue discussions," it said.

"Prospects for the development of long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation in the transport, industry, agriculture, food security, and other fields are impressive. A future agreement will help put a solid contractual foundation under these plans," the statement quoted Slepnyov as saying.

As reported earlier, the EAEU countries and Iran have had a provisional trade agreement pending the establishment of a full-fledged free trade area since October 2019.