EFTA Nears FTA With Ex-Soviet Customs Union

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

20 April 2011

Delegations from the EFTA states (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) and the customs union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan held the second round of negotiations towards a broader Free Trade Agreement on April 11-13, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The negotiations between the four EFTA states and the three Customs Union members had been launched by Ministers on November 23, 2010, followed by a first full round in January 2011 in Geneva.

During the second round, groups of experts discussed: trade in industrial and agricultural products; sanitary and phytosanitary issues; technical barriers to trade; trade remedies; customs and origin matters; trade facilitation; intellectual property rights; and government procurement. Other topics, such as services and investment, and trade and sustainable development were also addressed.

EFTA reported that the two parties held constructive talks allowing for the exchange of information and the establishment of joint texts. They agreed to meet again in August 2011 in Switzerland.

In 2010, the three countries now forming the Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan Customs Union were EFTA’s 6th most important export destination and 4th largest import source outside the European Union, with total merchandise trade amounting to USD8.1bn. Trade in services as well as foreign direct investments are also significant between both sides.

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