The President of Kazakhstan, Kasim Jomart Tokayev, ratified the agreement on free trade between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia, the press service of the head of state announced.
“The head of state signed the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the ratification of the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and its member states on the one hand and the Republic of Serbia on the other,” the statement on the website of the President of Kazakhstan reads.
In order to protect the internal market, the Eurasian Economic Union has maintained the application of customs duties on the import of poultry meat, sugar, textiles, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, as well as on a number of industrial goods, such as compressors and motor vehicles. The Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan also said that the agreement was written on the basis of the provisions of the World Trade Organization, the parties agreed on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical regulation measures only on the basis of international principles. The parties also agreed to guarantee the protection of intellectual property.
Earlier, the bill was approved by members of the country’s parliament. Trade and Integration Minister Bakhit Sultanov reported that Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia had previously signed bilateral free trade agreements with Serbia, but Armenia and Kyrgyzstan had not signed such agreements. The agreement establishes a single trade regime for all five EAEU states with Serbia, and expands the list of goods for which duty-free trade is envisaged in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia. The Minister said that the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union will be able to deliver cheese, alcoholic beverages and cigarettes to Serbia without paying customs duties. Earlier, there was an import duty for these goods, Sputnik News reports.
