“The free trade agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran is important to us because Iran is a key partner on our southern borders and one of the pivotal countries in the North-South Corridor,” said Andrei Slepnev, minister of trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
He added that Iran has made significant achievements in import substitution, developing its own technologies, and resisting the pressure of sanctions.
Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union signed an agreement last December to initiate free trade, six years after Tehran joined the bloc. This move aims to diversify Iran’s trade partners in response to Western sanctions.
Slepnev noted that the union is actively expanding its network of free trade agreements, saying the agreement with Iran has now been finalized in four EAEU member states.
Iran and the EAEU signed a three-year preferential trade agreement (PTA) in 2019. The PTA allowed Iran to offer tariff reductions on 380 goods it imported from EAEU countries while being able to enjoy the same discounts for 502 goods it exported to the bloc.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. It has an international legal personality and is established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.
The member states of the union are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.