Ukraine amends free trade agreement with Georgia

"On May 21, First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv and Georgian Minister of Economy Natela Turnava signed the protocol amending the free trade agreement between the government of Ukraine and the government of the Republic of Georgia. Amendments to the agreement will help Ukraine and Georgia use identical rules of origin of goods in bilateral trade and apply the clauses of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (Pan-Euro-Med), in particular, the effect of diagonal cumulation. As is known, from January 1, 2019, Ukraine began to apply the clauses of the PEM Convention in trade with the EU," the report reads.

According to Kubiv, the amendments to the free trade agreement with Georgia will help create the first functioning triangle of diagonal cumulation between the EU, Ukraine, and Georgia.

"In practice, this means that Ukrainian producers will be able to import raw materials and components from Georgia, recycle them in Ukraine and export them, for example, to Germany with Ukrainian certificates of origin with zero or preferential duty rates. Pan-Euro-Med is one of the tools to change the emphasis of international trade from exports of mainly raw materials to exports of more high-tech products with added value that is formed in Ukraine," he said.

Changes to the free trade agreement will come into force once ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

The free trade regime between Ukraine and Georgia has been in place since 1996.

op