New free trade deal between Georgia and 4 European countries comes into play

Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – combining 14 million consumers – are opening their markets to Georgia today as a new free trade deal comes into play.

Three years after signing its Association Agreement (AA) with its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal with the European Union (EU), Georgia is now benefiting from a new free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Thanks to the agreement signed on June 27 in Switzerland’s capital Bern, Georgian goods will now be exported without tariff and non-tariff barriers to EFTA member nations, which encompasses Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The agreement was signed by Georgia's Minister of Economy Dimitry Kumsishvili, Federal President of the Swiss Confederation, the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research Johann Schneider-Ammann and Ministers of the EFTA member-states. Photo by the PM's press office.

This is Georgia’s first international agreement with Iceland and Liechtenstein.

At the first stage the new free trade deal will come into play between Georgia, Norway and Iceland, while with Switzerland and Liechtenstein it will come into force three months after these countries ratify the deal,” announced Georgia’s Ministry of Economy.

The agreement included the following:

• Trade of goods and services
• Sanitary and phytosanitary measures
• Technical barriers to trade
• Rules of origin, trade promotion and cooperation in customs matters
• Investments
• Intellectual property rights
• Public procurement
• Competition
• Trade protection measures and sustainable development

The decision to establish a free trade deal with Georgia was made by the EFTA Council of Foreign Ministers on November 17, 2014.

The first round of negotiations took place in Georgia in September 2015, while the second round was held in December 2015.

Georgia successfully completed its third and final round of negotiations with the EFTA in February 2016.

So far Georgia has free trade deals with Turkey, the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Recently, Georgia signed a free trade agreement with China.

The Georgian Government has also started free trade talks with India.