The Government approved and submitted to the Parliament for ratification the Agreement on the free trade zone between the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed in Sankt Petersburg on 18 October 2011, Info-Prim Neo reports. After ratification, this agreement will replace the bilateral free trade agreements Moldova has with each of the CIS members. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar, the agreement has been negotiated for two years and it will institutionalize a more solid framework of multilateral relations, based on the norms of the World Trade Organization (WTO). “Practically, this will exclude the possibility of such embargoes as the one imposed on Moldova by the Russian Federation on 2006 (a few days ago, Russia became a member of the WTO). The signatories, regardless of the size of the countries, won’t be allowed to take such decisions as embargoing. They will be obliged to follow the procedures established by the WTO, to provide arguments and proceed to consultations before adopting a decision. They will have to respect a very rigid procedure before enforcing some restrictions”, said Valeriu Lazar. The signing countries committed not to deteriorate the existing trade regime between them. The exceptions from free trade are listed in the Agreement’s annexes and there will be no other exceptions. “Half a year after the Agreement comes into effect, we’ll start negotiating with CIS countries to remove these exceptions so that in a few year there would be no barriers in the trade between our countries, like import or export taxes. It’s important to make the most of the opportunities provided by this Agreement”, said the Deputy Prime Minister. Valeriu Lazar stressed that the Agreement regarding the free trade zone between the CIS countries doesn’t come into conflict with Moldova’s other international commitments, like those with the EU or the WTO. A press release issued by the National Participatory Council, composed of nongovernmental experts and civil society representatives, reads that before the ratification of the Agreement, the Government should commission a study of the impact the Agreement could have, especially on Moldova’s commitments in the European integration process.