Moldovan Cabinet of Ministers approved the ratification of the protocol on amendments to the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine.
This document was signed on August 28, 2021 in Chisinau by the Prime Ministers of the two countries Natalia Gavrilita and Denys Shmyhal with the aim of revising the rules of origin of goods and expanding trade. The amendments made to the Free Trade Agreement between the countries stipulate that the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin of goods (Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin) will be applied in trade between Moldova and Ukraine, and this will facilitate investment and stimulate business -environment to make full use of the existing trade regime with the EU. As the Prime Minister of Moldova noted earlier, thus, Moldovan producers will be able to import raw materials and components produced in Ukraine for their processing in Moldova, and then export their final products to the EU countries, accompanied by certificates of Moldovan origin without paying duties or at a reduced customs duty, according to the existing preferential regime. The amendments to the Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine are being made in the context of the fact that Ukraine has been applying the provisions of the Pan-Euro-Med Convention in trade with the European Union since January 2019. Pan-Euro-Med is a tool that establishes identical rules of origin for goods that apply in the framework of free trade agreements between its contracting parties. In 2015, Moldova became a party to the Pan-Euro-Med Convention and, according to Protocol II of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement, applies its provisions in trade with EU countries. As a result of the amendments to the Free Trade Agreement, Moldova and Ukraine will use the same rules of origin in bilateral trade and the principle of diagonal cumulation. This will allow investors and the business environment to make the most of the existing trade regime with the European Union, using the mechanism of diagonal cumulation with Ukraine. That is, Moldovan, Ukrainian and European components can be counted together for the purposes and rules of origin and application of free trade. // 18.11.2021- InfoMarket.
