The European Parliament voted to extend by one year the suspension of import duties and quotas on products exported from Moldova to the EU. MEP Siegfried Muresan said that the goal is to offer Moldova increased access to the European market given that the war in Ukraine has powerfully affected the country’s international trade, IPN reports.
“By today’s vote, we want to ensure that the new decision is adopted on time, before the current decision to suspend the import duties expires on July 24, 2023. The Moldovan products that were exported to the East, through Ukraine, remained without an export market. That’s why in 2022, we decided at European level to suspend the import duties on the seven categories of products that are subject to tariff-rate quotas: tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums, and grape juice. Today we decided to extend this decision for another year,” stated Siegfried Mureșan.
According to him, the access to the European market significantly helped the Republic of Moldova the past year. In total, Moldova’s exports to the EU grew from €1.8 billion in 2021 to €2.6 billion in 2022.
“We must continue to offer increased access to the Moldovan products in Europe. The EU is the largest internal market in the world. In point of fact, the free access of the Moldovan products doesn’t have any negative impact on the EU market, but brings a great benefit to the producers of the Republic of Moldova,” said the MEP. He noted that a decision to permanently liberalize trade between Moldova and the EU needs to be taken. Permanent liberalization, as opposed to the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas, will ensure greater predictability on the Moldovan market, which will this way be able to attract more important investors.
