Serbia FTAs To Remain In Force Until EU Accession

By Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

15 October 2014

The head of the team negotiating Serbia's accession to the European Union (EU) has confirmed an agreement with the European Union that the country's free trade agreements with eastern states, and in particular Russia, will remain in force until Serbia becomes an EU member.

Tanja Mišcevic said membership talks with the European Commission are currently focused on the issue of foreign trade.

Serbia has bilateral FTAs with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, and the country is also a part of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Moldova, and Montenegro.

The FTA with Russia was signed in 2000, with a view to making Serbia attractive to foreign investors in the manufacturing sector. Under the agreement, goods produced in Serbia are exported to Russia customs duty-free (aside from a record-keeping tariff set at one percent of value). The list of products that is excluded from the FTA is revised annually.

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