WT/REG444/M/1  
 
27 July 2022 
(22-5696) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and Third  Session    
 
FREE TRADE  AGREEMENT BETWEEN UKRAINE  AND ISRAEL  
(GOODS)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  27 JUNE 2022 
Chairman: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea)  
1.1.  The 10 3rd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 28/Rev.1  dated 17 June 2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.I of the Session, the CRTA considered the Free Trade Agreement between 
Ukraine and Israel, goods ( hereinafter  "the Agreement"). The Chairman  stated that the Factual 
Presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility in full consultation with 
the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparenc y Mechanism for Regional Trade 
Agreements (document  WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Agreement had entered into force on 1 January 2021 . It had been  notified to the WTO by 
the Parties on 13 January 2021 under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994 as establish ing a free 
trade area for trade in goods, within the meaning of Article XXIV of GATT 1994  
(document  WT/REG4 44/N/1). The text of the Agreement, together with its Annexes, was available 
on Parties' officia l websites and in the WTO RTA database.  The Factual Presentation, 
document  WT/REG4 44/1, and questions and replies, document WT/REG4 44/2, ha d been distributed.   
1.4.  The representative of Israel  thank ed the Secretariat for its extensive work in preparing th e 
Factual Presentation  and Ukraine for its fruitful  cooperation and the joint work conducted in this 
exercise.  
1.5.  Israel  express ed its greatest sympathy for the suffering of the people of Ukraine and hope d for 
an immediate end to the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. The implications of th e conflict on 
Ukraine's economy and on global trade were of great concern  and Israel appreciate d Ukraine’s efforts 
to continue trading in light of the present circumstances.  
1.6.  Ukraine was an important trading partner for Israel, and bilateral  trade ha d grown over the 
years. Exports from Israel to Ukraine had increased in 2021, reaching USD 197 million  compared to 
2020, when it amounted to USD 134 million. In 2021, imports from Ukraine  had also r isen, 
accounting for USD 776 million, compared to USD 640 million in 2020. As for the sector al breakdown , 
in 2021, Israel's exports to Ukraine had been  dominate d by chemicals and chemical products  
comprising 64% of the Israeli exports to Ukraine, followed by food and agriculture, and electrical 
and machinery equipment. In terms of imports from Ukraine, the leading sector had been  food and 
agriculture, which amoun ted to 61%, followed by base metals.  
1.7.  The Agreement, which had entered into force on 1 January  2021,  had expand ed the 
long-standing  trading  partnership  between the two countries . It aimed at liberalization and 
facilitation of bilateral trade, focusing at that stage primarily on trade in goods, building upon the 
comparative advantages and complementarities of the two economies.  In addition,  Israel and 
Ukraine strived  to enhance through their FTA their economic cooperation, promote conditions of fair 
competition and contribute to the expansion of world trade.  WT/REG444/M/1  
 
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  1.8.  Apart from an ambitious liberalization of customs tariffs , the Agreement  transcend ed various 
domains , embody ing key WTO principles as well as featur ing WTO-plus elements , across chapters 
such as trade facilitation  and customs procedures, TBT, SPS, trade remedies and transparency. On 
rules of origin, it referred to the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean  system, in order to facilitate trade for 
businesses from both sides. The Agreement also included a moder n chapter on trade and 
environment, with extensive obligations that were subject to a dispute resolution mechanism.   
1.9.  Israel was  pleased to have been able to implement th e FTA in spite of the pandemic and looked 
forward to strengthening its trading relation ship with Ukraine further, through th e Agreement.  
1.10.  She thank ed those Members wh ich had expressed interest in th e Agreement and had 
submitted questions. Her delegation  was grateful  to the Secretariat and the CRTA team for their 
work.  
1.11.  The representative of Ukraine  welcome d the examination of the Free Trade Agreement 
between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the State of Israel by the CRTA . 
His delegation  appreciated the substantial work that ha d been done by the WTO Secretariat jointly 
with the Governments of the Parties in prepar ing the Factual Presentation and providing WTO 
Members with the relevant information under the WTO Transparency Mechanism for RTAs.  He 
express ed gratitude to the delegat ions of Canada, China and Japan for their  clear questions and 
other Members for the interest show n during the consideration of the Agreement.  
1.12.  He noted that t he State of Israel remain ed one of Ukraine's important economic partners.  The 
Agreement had co me in to force in 2021 and was at the focus of economic cooperation between the 
countries. It establishe d a free trade regime for all goods with some exemptions retained by Israel 
and contain ed a rendez -vous clause for trade in services. The provisions of the Ag reement were also 
based on the respective rights and obligations of countries under the WTO Agreements.  To improve 
the institutional framework for the implementation of the Agreement, the status and functions of 
the Joint Committee coordinating the activit ies of the Parties to the Agreement had been  separately 
specified by the States.  Enhancing economic cooperation and eliminati ng barriers to trade in goods 
were the main objectives of economic cooperation between Ukraine and Israel.  In particular, Israel 
had abolish ed import duties on about 9% of agricultural and 80% of industrial goods of Ukrainian 
origin. In turn, Ukraine had abolish ed import duties on approximately 7% of agricultural and 70% 
of industrial goods.   
1.13.  Along with the liberalization of customs t ariffs, it was envisaged to establish coordination  to 
exempt duties on temporarily imported goods, as well as goods re -imported after repair or 
restoration.  In addition, determining the origin of goods in mutual trade between Ukraine and Israel 
could be regulated by the provisions of the Pan -Euro-Mediterranean  Convention, which create d 
additional opportunities for increasing exports of Ukrainian products using diagonal cumulation.  
Consultations with Israel on the creation of a Joint Committee g ave fur ther opportunity to create 
several bodies to monitor the implementation and functioning of the Agreement as well as providing 
for regular exchanges of information.  
1.14.   In 2021, Ukraine’s trade turnover with Israel had amounted to almost USD 1 billion. Compared  
to 2020 e xports had arisen by 29.7% and imports by 31.6% with a positive balance for Ukraine of 
a bit above USD 50 0 million. These indicators of bilateral trade demonstrated the positive dynamics 
of the Agreement for both countries.  
1.15.  He noted that it had been already four months that the Russian Federation continue d to 
commit a blatant act of aggression against Ukraine through its unprovoked and unjustified military 
invasion.  The day before , Kyiv again had been  under attack from  missiles and civilians agai n had 
suffered.  The Russian invasion of Ukraine ha d placed unprecedented pressure on the trading system, 
and extreme uncertainty in financial markets, including the currency markets.  Russia was 
destabilizing markets, threatening the world with a food crisis and destroying food trade routes.  
Ukraine  was convinced that regardless  of the disaster in Ukraine caused  by Russian aggression and 
additional  challenges, it could  continue strengthening its trade and economic relationship s. Russia's 
aggression against Ukraine had threaten ed to undermine the established work of the multilateral 
trading system, to hinder the development of , and people's welfare in , developing and least 
developed countries, a nd impairing  the proper functioning of international organizations, the WTO 
in particular , including the implementation of obligations under bilateral free trade agreements.  WT/REG444/M/1  
 
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  1.16.  Ukraine was grateful to Israel for their joint work and believe d that the main achie vements of 
economic relations were maintaining the trend of increasing bilateral trade through the free trade 
regime between the Parties . The r ealisation of necessary activities that stimulate d economic 
development ; intensifying economic cooperation betwee n the Parties  through the expansion of 
mutual trade ; avoiding the creation of new barriers to trade ; providing a predictable commercial 
environment for business planning and investment : it was the Parties'  belief that full implementation 
of the Agreement w ould achieve all these goals. 
1.17.  Ukraine look ed forward to a fruitful discussion and w ould endeavour to answer all the 
questions from Members in addition to the written answers already provided.  
1.18.  The representative of the European Union  thanked the Parties for their presentation of the 
Agreement. Echoing what had been said by the Parties  in their presentation s, she stated that  the 
invasion of the Russian Federation, the flagrant violation of international law and the rules -based 
international order had effects that had spread well beyond Ukraine's borders. Russia and Russia 
alone bore the responsibility for th e war which was bringing catastrophic loss of life and human 
suffering. It was destroying Ukraine's infrastructure and agricultural production. It was blocking 
Ukraine's grain exports from the Black Sea ports. It was bombing warehouses and stealing grain 
from the occupied territories. So , it was clearly Russia that was causing global food insecurity and 
threatening food shortages in developing cou ntries. The European Union was deeply concerned about 
the global consequences of th e aggression relating to both trade and food security. It urged Russia 
to stop its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and  to immediately an d 
unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within 
its internationally recognized borders. In view of the unprecedented Russia n invasion of Ukraine, 
facilitating trade between Ukraine and its partners w as of utmost importance. The EU had taken 
necessary steps in th at direction, and welcomed other like -minded countries that did the same. The 
EU wished the Parties success in the implementation of the Agreement.  
1.19.  The representative of the United States  said that her delegation joined the sentiments of the 
Members that had spoken in condemning Russia's aggression on Ukraine. The United States  
express ed its heartfelt support to Ukraine and stood  in solidarity with the Ukrainian people in these 
unprecedented times. The United States  recognize d the hardship and disruption  that delay had 
caused to the Parties  and thank ed them for their perseverance, and for participating in this very 
valuable transp arency exercise. The United States commend ed the Parties for the high level of 
liberalization under the Agreement .  
1.20.  The representative of Canada  thanked other delegations for their statements on the current 
situation. Canada strongly condemned the unjustif ied unprovoked attack on Ukraine by President 
Putin. The attacks had considerable human  deterring consequences and led to the senseless loss of 
lives of innocent people. All the international community should be se ized immediately of this 
question . It was not just an attack against Ukraine but an attack on international law including the 
United Nations Charter as well as an attack on democracy, freedom and human rights. Finally , and 
furthermore , Canada thank ed Ukraine and Israel for the transparency portra yed in this exercise.  
1.21.  The representative of the Republic of Korea  thanked the Parties and the Secretariat for their 
presentation and participation in this crucial process relating to transparency in the WTO. In 
particular , believing that Ukraine 's action s today show ed how much importance it attach ed to the 
transparency work in the CRTA, Korea especially appreciate d its efforts despite the devastating 
circumstances. In this connection Korea  wished  to echo several previous sp eakers on the situation 
in Ukraine. The Korean government also strongly condemned Russia's  continuing invasion of Ukraine 
as a violation of the principles of the UN Charter. The use of force that caused innocent casualties 
could not be justified under any circumstances. Ukraine 's sovereignty, territorial integrity and 
political independence had to be respected. His delegation shared the deep concerns of the 
international community  over the unfolding humanitarian situation in Ukraine and also  its linke d 
economic consequences including the food crisis. Turning to the agenda Korea wished the Parties 
every success in their future implementation as well.  
1.22.  The representative of Japan  echoed the statement made by Ukraine, Israel and some other 
Members about the curr ent situation in Ukraine. Japan had condemned Russia's aggression against 
Ukraine in the strongest terms as it clearly infringed upon Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial 
integrity and constituted a serious violation of international law. Japan had strong ly urged Russia to 
cease the attack and withdraw its forces back to the Russian territory immediately.  WT/REG444/M/1  
 
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  1.23.  The representative of the United Kingdom  joined other Members in condemning the illegal 
Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia's illegal invasion was clearl y impeding Ukraine's ability to trade 
and exercise its WTO rights and obligations. It was an attack on Ukraine and on the founding 
principles of the WTO. He informed the CRTA that the UK had reduced to zero all tariffs under the 
Agreement  to support Ukrain e's economy and had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
with Ukraine to take forward future cooperation on reconstruction efforts.  
1.24.  The Chairman  noted the consideration of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and 
Israel had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and conclude oral discussion of 
the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. Any delegations wishing 
to ask follow -up quest ions were invited to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 
4 July 2022 and the Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 18 July 2022. 
In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissio ns, as well as 
the minutes of the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and made 
available on the WTO website.  
1.25.  The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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