Parliament ratified the Free Trade Agreement with Turkey in its March 31 sitting. Most of the MPs attending the meeting voted in favor of the ratification, while the Communist and Socialist lawmakers voted against, IPN reports.

Deputy Minister of Economy Vitalie Iurcu said in Parliament that the negotiation and signing of this accord are preconditions imposed by the EU – Moldova Association Agreement. The agreement with Turkey strengthens the bilateral economic relations and eliminates the economic barriers between the two states. “The economic interests of both of the countries were taken into account when drafting the accord and particular import quotas were set. The customs duties on the import of textiles, clothes and footwear will be annulled,” stated the official.

To protect the home market, mechanisms will be implemented to limit particular imports, especially of agrifood products. For example, the imports of fresh and refrigerated tomatoes cannot exceed 5,000 tonnes and customs duties on these will not be applied between November 1 and April 30, when there are no domestic tomatoes on the internal market. In the case of apricots, peaches and plums, no customs duties will be imposed in September – June, when there is no national production of such fruit. “The signing of this accord will bring a number of advantages that will stimulate the economic development of Moldova, which has similar agreements with the EU and the CIS,” said Vitalie Iurcu.

Communist MP Oleg Reidman said the free import of textiles from Turkey will put the Transnistrian textile producers in a difficult situation as these sell their products including on the right side of the Nistru River and this could further worsen the relations between the two sides.

Valentina Buliga, who heads the Parliament’s Commission on Foreign Affairs, said that a joint committee was constituted to put the agreement into practice. The sides agreed to consider possibilities of offering concessions on a number of goods within this committee.