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| EFTA Signs FTAs With Serbia And Albania |
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states – Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – signed two comprehensive Free
Trade Agreements with Albania and Serbia on December 17, in an effort to boost
economic ties.
Both agreements contain provisions for the liberalization of trade in goods.
According to the texts, EFTA will abolish all customs duties on industrial products,
including fish and other marine products, as soon as the agreement enters into
force, after the agreement gains parliamentary approval in the respective states.
While Albania is to abolish tariffs on industrial goods imported from EFTA member
states as soon as the agreement enters into force, Serbia will remove such
tariffs by end-2013. Existing bilateral arrangements on agricultural products
between the individual EFTA member states and Albania and Serbia will form part of
the instruments establishing the free-trade area between both sides.
The text also includes provisions on the protection of intellectual property
rights, on services and investment, and on public procurement. Joint committees
will be established to supervise the functioning of the agreements.
In 2008, trade between Albania and EFTA (USD42m) was considerably less
than that traded with Serbia (USD338m).
In the case of Serbia, exports from EFTA reached USD267m, consisting
mainly of pharmaceutical products, machinery, optical/medical equipment, clocks
and watches, and chemicals, while imports from Serbia, worth USD71m, were
mainly aluminum, machinery, edible fruits and nuts. Companies from EFTA
are significant investors in the Serbian services and manufacturing
sectors.
Trade with Albania is also mainly EFTA exports (USD38m) of pharmaceutical products, machinery and tobacco. EFTA imports around
USD4m of products from Albania, with machinery, mechanical appliances, grains
and seeds, and woven apparel being the leading items.
EFTA is the world’s ninth largest merchandise trader, and has
now concluded 20 Free Trade Agreements with 29 partner countries
outside the EU. Of EFTA’s total trade, 80% is covered by preferential
trade agreements.
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