The joint commission for commercial-economic cooperation will meet in Moscow next month, after a pause of five years. Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac related what the event will focus on in an interview for IPN.
“As regards the Russian Federation, I think we managed in 2016 to establish a high-level dialogue. I had three meetings with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. These enabled us to open discussions on this roadmap and we are sure that the joint commission for commercial-economic cooperation will convene in November, after a hiatus of five years. The commission is to sign the roadmap that was generally finalized in the last meeting with Rogozin,” stated the Deputy Prime Minster.
According to Octavian Calmac, Moldova goes with three key messages for the Russian Federation to this meeting. The first is the elimination of customs duties imposed on Moldovan products. There are 19 categories of products subject to customs duties and these affected 85% of the exports to Russia. The second measure concerns the non-tariff measures applied to the Moldovan products – requirements towards alcoholic beverages, fruit and vegetables, lists of companies.
“We want to pass from lists of companies to lists of reasoned requirements applicable to all the national or international producers so that we shift to civilized, modern, bilateral trade safe for consumers. We consider our infrastructure in the sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary sectors is sufficiently equipped to guarantee that the products exported from Moldova are inoffensive,” said the official.
The third element is related more to a technical problem that affects Moldovan carriers – the transit of deliveries though the Russian Federation to third countries. These subjects and those concerning energy and migration will be discussed by the expert commission at the end of this November.
