BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 9. The implementation
of duty-free access will enable the member states of the Eurasian
Economic Union (EAEU) to enhance the exportation of specific
commodities to the Iranian market, Head of the Special Trade
Regulation Issues Department at the Trade Policy Department of the
Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Kira Danilcheva told Trend.

According to her, a full-fledged free trade agreement between
Iran and the EAEU was signed in December 2023.

She said that the agreement significantly expands the scope of
trade, providing preferential access for almost 90 percent of
goods.

Additionally, the agreement improves tariff conditions compared
to the Temporary Agreement, which did not allow tariff reductions
on Iranian goods below four percent, the EEC representative
explained.

Danilcheva pointed out that trade between the parties is growing
in both directions: the export of EAEU products to Iran is steadily
increasing, and Iranian products are gradually expanding on the
EAEU market.

“Given the traditional export specialization of the EAEU
economies, it is expected that duty-free access will boost exports
to Iran of such goods as cereals, meat products, dried vegetables,
ice cream, chocolate, confectionery, etc.

In the industrial goods category, access conditions have been
improved for products such as metal goods, timber processing
industry products, chemical industry products, various transport
vehicles, agricultural equipment, household appliances, and so on,”
she added.

To note, since 2019, trade between EAEU member states and Iran
has been conducted under the preferential regime established by the
Temporary Agreement, leading to the creation of a free trade zone
between the EAEU and Iran, signed on May 17, 2018. The full-fledged
free trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU was signed in
December 2023. EEC Chairman Bakyttjan Sagintayev, during a meeting
with Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade, Seyed Mohammad
Atabak, mentioned that the EEC expects the full agreement with Iran
to enter into force soon.

Additionally, on December 26, following the meeting of the
Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg, Iran was
granted the status of an observer state in the EAEU.