WT/REG354/M/1  
 
3 July 2015  
(15-3448)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Seventy-seventh Session   
 
 DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE AREA CONCLUDED AS A PART OF THE 
ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND GEORGIA 
(GOODS AND SERVICES) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 22 JUNE 2015 
(Chairman: Ambassador Francisco Pirez Gordillo (Uruguay)  
1.1.  The 77th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/2/Rev.1 dated 8 June 2015. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item B.III of the session, th e CRTA considered the Deep and Comprehensive 
Free Trade Area concluded as a part of the A ssociation Agreement between the European Union 
and Georgia, goods and services, (hereinafter "the Agreement"). 
1.3.  The Chairman said that the Agreement had been applied provisionally since 1 September 
2014. It had been notified to the WTO by th e Parties on 2 July 2014 and 16 September 2014 
under Article XXIV:7(a) of the GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994 as an Agreement establishing a free trade area (documents 
WT/REG354/N/1 and WT/REG354/N/1/Add.1) and under GATS Article V:7(a) as an Agreement 
providing for the liberalization of trade in services within the meaning of Article V of the GATS (document S/C/N/745 and S/C/N/745/Add.1). The text  of the Agreement was available, together 
with its Annexes, on the Parties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on the goods and 
services aspects (document WT/REG354/1 dated 13 April 2015) had been prepared by the 
Secretariat on its own responsibility in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (document 
WT/L/671). In addition, written questions and repl ies on this Agreement had been distributed in 
document WT/REG354/2 dated 15 June 2015. He proposed to organize the consideration of the Agreement by first asking the Parties and then other Members to give any general comments and 
then turn to the specifics of the Agreement.  
1.4.  The Chairman welcomed and gave the floor to  Mikheil Janelidze, Deputy Minister of Economy 
and Sustainable Development, the representative of Georgia, who expressed his gratitude to the 
CRTA for the review of the Agreement between Georgia and the EU and thanked the Secretariat 
for the preparation of the Factual Presentation. He also expressed his appreciation to the European 
Commission for their fruitful cooperation and to all those Members which had demonstrated particular interest and had raised questions on the Agreement. 
1.5.  The Agreement, which was an integral part of the Association Agreement, had been signed in 
June 2014 and applied provisionally since 20 September 2014. It was in full compliance with the principles of the WTO and other trade agreements that Georgia had signed before, and forged 
closer economic relations between Georgia an d the EU. The Agreement enabled Georgia to 
gradually achieve three out of the four EU intern al market freedoms: free movement of goods, 
services and capital. No other FTA signed by Georgia had envisaged liberalization of trade in services. It was also different from other FTAs since it envisaged legislative and institutional 
approximation. As a result of the legislative approximation provided by the Agreement, food 
safety, quality infrastructure and other trade re gulatory systems would be brought in compliance 
with European practice, which would contribute to overcoming non-tariff barriers in trade with the 
EU. WT/REG354/M/1 
 
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  1.6.  Georgia had started implementation of trade policy reforms in accordance with EU 
recommendations since 2009. In consultations with the EU, Georgia had elaborated and adopted the Agreement's Implementation Action Plan fo r 2014-2017, which was based on the priorities 
identified by the Association Agenda and was in line with approximation timelines provided by the 
Association Agreement. Georgia had also prepared the Agreement's implementation action plan for 
2015, which was more detailed. These action plans were open for all interested parties and were published to ensure maximum transparency in this process. Reforms were taki ng place in the fields 
of TBT, SPS, customs and trade facilitation, IP R, competition, public procurement, trade and 
sustainable development, trade related energy and in several services sectors. 
1.7.  During the negotiation process, Georgia had reached an unprecedented agreement with the 
European Union on tariff liberalization. Almost every product of Georgian origin would be imported 
into the EU market free of customs tariffs. Investors would enjoy additional stimulus by the fact 
that through its rules of origin, the Agreement envisaged the possibility of diagonal cumulation with Turkey and the Pan-Euro-Med (PEM) Conv ention countries. Georgia had already started 
preparations for joining the PEM Convention. 
1.8.  One of Georgia's major priorities was to ma ke the best use of opportunities presented by the 
Agreement and bring its anticipated benefits to its citizens in its  territory within its internationally 
recognized borders. Effective implementation would boost the economy, increase Georgia's 
attractiveness as a viable investment destination, create a better environment for local as well as international businesses and facilitate further economic modernization. It was expected that these new realities would be duly seized by the Georgian and international business communities. 
Georgia's aim was to create cooperation opportunities for all partners, based on the principles of 
the rule of law, fair competition, mutual trust and respect. 
1.9.  The EU was Georgia's main trading partner.  The share of Georgian exports to the EU had 
increased and amounted to 30% of Georgia's total exports in four months in 2015. Likewise, 
exports of agricultural products had grown by 115% in the same period.  
1.10.  In concluding, he thanked the Chair and the Committee for their excellent work. 
1.11.  The representative of the European Union welcomed the CRTA's consideration of the  
Agreement with Georgia and was particularly grateful to the Secretariat for the preparation of the 
Factual Presentation. The EU thanked the Georgian delegation for their excellent cooperation and Deputy Minister Mikheil Janelidze for heading the delegation. He also thanked Colombia, Mexico 
and Thailand for their questions and the interest  they had shown in the consideration of this 
Agreement. 
1.12.  Georgia was part of the Eastern Partnership, which had been established in 2009 with a 
view to create the necessary conditions to accelerate political association and further economic 
integration between the EU and interested Eastern Partner countries. The Agreement had set up a free-trade area between the EU and Georgia, in line with the principles of the WTO. It was 
intended to provide for substantial liberalization of trade and investment conditions and was 
leading to further improvements in trade conditions and the investment climate through greater convergence with EU trade-related laws and practices. 
1.13.  Under the Agreement, the Parties had removed all their import duties on agricultural 
products, with minor exceptions. For industrial goods, import duties by both Parties were removed 
immediately, while agricultural products would be also fully and immediately liberalized, with the exception of trade in garlic, for which a duty-fr ee tariff-rate quota had been established. The EU 
would also monitor import volumes of some agricultural products to avoid potential circumvention 
of products originating in third countries. Ultimately, Georgia and the EU would eliminate duties on 100% and 99 % (in trade value), respectively, of their imports from the other Party. The rules of 
origin in the Agreement were identical to those of the Pan-Euro-Med (PEM) Convention. A specific 
policy dimension related to the "deep" component of the FTA and covered provisions on food safety/sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical regulations and standards for industrial goods, public procurement, services, customs and trade facilitation. Several provisions aimed at 
reforming Georgia's trade and trade-related policies in those areas, in line with, and on the basis 
of, the EU acquis. These would provide for the modernization of the economy, anchoring of EU investment in Georgia, and a better and more predictable policy environment. The Agreement WT/REG354/M/1 
 
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  provided for economic integration and liberalization of trade in services as per Article V of the 
GATS. It notably included provisions on establishment, which allowed EU and Georgian companies to set up subsidiary or branch offices on a non-discriminatory basis, benefitting from the same treatment as domestic companies in the partner's market.  
1.14.  For customs and trade facilitation, the Agreement foresaw alignment to the EU customs 
acquis aimed at modernizing customs legislation, procedures and practices while striking a reasonable balance between simplification and facilitation and effective control and security. The 
first priority areas were accession to the Common Transit Convention (wider common transit area 
with single data exchange) and the development and implementation of an Authorised Economic 
Operator programme. 
1.15.  The "comprehensive" component of the Agr eement covered competition policy, intellectual 
property, sustainable development and transparency . The rules on competition policy were closely 
based on relevant EU disciplines to ensure the proper implementation of domestic competition laws and the prevention of monopolistic practices or ab use of dominant position. The Parties would also 
ensure transparency as regards their subsidies po licy. The Parties had reinforced their engagement 
to protect intellectual property beyond the disci plines of the TRIPS Agreement. This concerned 
extended protection for different intellectual prop erty rights (i.e. trade marks, patents, designs, 
and plant varieties), improved cooperation and stro nger (civil) enforcement of IP, including at the 
border. Equally, the Agreement on Geographical In dications had been entirely integrated into the 
Agreement. The chapter on trade and sustainable development included adherence to key international labour and environment standards and agreements, the prudent use of natural 
resources such as timber and fish, and the promotion of practices favouring sustainable 
development such as corporate social responsibility. Civil society was closely involved to effectively implement these provisions and for helping to iden tify issues and future areas of action. Civil 
society advisory groups included environment, labour, and business organizations. It was still too 
early to make any conclusive assessment of the results of the Agreement on trade and investment flows; however, Georgian exports to the EU had risen by 12% in the first six months of the free 
trade agreement. EU exports to Georgia had remained stable. 
1.16.  The EU looked forward to a constructive discussion and was ready to answer any additional 
questions Members might have. 
1.17.  The representative of the United States thanked the parties for their participation in the 
review and the Secretariat for its excellent wo rk in preparing the Factual Presentation. He 
appreciated the Parties' presentations which brought interesting and new insights into Georgia's development and integration goals. He noted the comprehensive nature of the Agreement and the 
commendable tariff liberalization across all sectors.  He also applauded the important efforts made 
by Georgia with respect to services sector liberalization and had no further questions. 
1.18.  The representative of Thailand joined the US in thanking the Parties for their comprehensive 
presentations and the Secretariat for its excellent work. He thanked the Parties for their written 
responses to Thailand's questions on dispute se ttlement and government procurement, which were 
being reviewed, and Thailand reserved the right to submit further questions in writing. 
1.19.  The Chairman said that consideration of the Goods and Services Aspects of the Deep and 
Comprehensive Free Trade Area concluded as a part of the Association Agreement between the 
European Union and Georgia had allowed the Comm ittee to clarify a number of questions and the 
oral discussion of this RTA could be concluded in accordance with paragraph 11 of the 
Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wished to ask follow up questions they were invited 
to forward submissions in writing to the Secretariat by 29 June 2015 and Parties were asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 13 July 2015. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the 
Transparency Mechanism all written submissions, as well as minutes of this meeting would be 
circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and would be made available on the WTO website. 
1.20.  The Committee took note of the comments made. 
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