Signing of Free Trade Agreement within CIS may be postponed, Valeriu Lazar

We and the Russian side agreed to hold a round of bilateral consultations in the context of the talks on the draft Free Trade Agreement within the Commonwealth of Independent States. The decision was taken towards the end of the meeting of the Moldovan-Russian intergovernmental economic cooperation commission, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said in a news conference, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “In the end of the talks on the agreement, Russia and its partners from the Customs Union – Belarus and Kazakhstan – proposed instituting exceptions in the free trade regime, which, according to the Moldovan side, run counter to the main free trade principles that do not impose customs duties or taxes equivalent to them. In the given case, Russia together with Belarus and Kazakhstan suggest putting customs duties on the export of natural gas, wood and other goods,” Valeriu Lazar said. According to him, during the multilateral talks they tried to convince Russia and its partners of the necessity of eliminating these exceptions, if not immediately than gradually, as the goods exported to Moldova will grow dearer if customs duties are paid on them. The Deputy Prime Minister said the Ministry of Economy is now preparing a group of negotiators who will go to Moscow to take part in the bilateral consultations. “Even if the consultations on the draft Free Trade Agreement within the CIS are multilateral, there are a number of topics that we should discuss in a bilateral meeting,” he said. It was proposed that the new Free Trade Agreement within the Commonwealth of Independent States should be formulated in accordance with the norms of the World Trade Organization. It is to be signed this May, after consultations are held with the member states. Valeriu Lazar said the proposal to introduce exceptions in the free trade regime surprised Moldova, Armenia and Ukraine. Thus, the signing of the agreement will be most probably postponed.