The European Council adopts temporary measures to liberalize exports of Moldovan agricultural products to the EU while doubling quotas for duty-free deliveries of seven agricultural products from Moldova to the EU.
As noted in a report, the European Council adopted a resolution on Monday to temporarily liberalize trade in seven Moldovan agricultural products that have not yet been fully liberalized: tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums and grape juice. This means that Moldova could at least double its exports of these products - within one year - to the EU without any tariffs. Czech Industry and Trade Minister Josef Sikela said the EU adopted this decision because it could not overlook the impact of the war in Ukraine on Moldova. "With duties lifted from the remaining agricultural products not already fully liberalized, Moldova can now export at least twice as much of these products to the EU without duties. With these exceptional measures, the EU deepens its trade relations with Moldova and shows its support for the stabilization of Moldova’s economy," the Czech Industry and Trade Minister said. According to him, Russia's war against Ukraine has had a devastating effect on Ukraine as well as Moldova. It has negatively affected Moldova's ability to trade with the rest of the world because its exports are largely dependent on Ukrainian infrastructure and because it has largely lost access to its markets in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. It should be noted that a regulation of the European Parliament and the EU Council on temporary trade liberalization measures supplementing the trade benefits applicable to Moldovan products under the EU-Moldova Association Agreement was proposed by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament on July 5. Now that the decision has also been approved by the European Council, it will be signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU and will come into force the next day after its publication. As InfoMarket agency earlier reported, it is planned that the quotas for duty-free export of plums to the EU by Moldova will go up from 15,000 to 40,000 t, grapes - from 20,000 to 58,000 t, apples - from 40,000 to 80,000 t, tomatoes - from 2,000 to 4,000 t, garlic - from 220 to 440 t, cherries - from 1,500 to 3,000 t and grape juice - from 0.500 to 1,000 t. // 18.07.2022- InfoMarket.
