WT/L/882  
 
4 June 2013  
(13-2911)  Page: 1/4  
General Council 
24-25 July 2013  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION - APPLICATION OF AUTONOMOUS PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
TO THE REPUBLIC  OF MOLDOVA 
REPORT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION UNDER THE DECISION OF 7 MAY 20081 
The following communication, dated 23 May 2013, is  being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union. 
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 1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  On 7 May 2008, the European Union (EU) was granted a waiver (WT/L/722) from its 
obligations under paragraph 1 of Article I of the GATT 1994 to the extent necessary to permit the 
EU to afford duty-free or preferential treatment to  eligible products originating in the Republic of 
Moldova, without being required to extend the sa me duty-free or preferen tial treatment to like 
products of any other member. This waiver applies from 1 March 2008 until 31 December 2013. 
1.2.  Under the terms of this waiver, the EU is required to submit to the General Council an annual 
report on the preferences and duty-free treatmen t afforded to products from the Republic of 
Moldova, including the extent to which such pr eferences and duty-free treatment differ from the 
EU's MFN and GSP concessions, with a view to facilitating the annual review provided for in 
paragraph 4 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement. This report covers the calendar year 2012. 
1.3.  The EU trade regime  vis-à-vis  the Republic of Moldova is currently regulated by the granting 
of autonomous trade preferences (ATP). 
2  AUTONOMOUS TRADE PREFERENCES 
2.1.  Before 2008, the EU already had a liberal trade regime towards the Republic of Moldova. 
Indeed, Moldova benefited from the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance under the EU Generalized System of Preferences. 
2.2.  On 21 January 2008 the EU Council of Minist ers extended the duty-free access to the EU 
market for products originating from the Republic of Moldova even further, by removing all remaining tariff ceilings for industrial products  and by improving access to the EU market for 
agricultural products (Council Regulation No . 55/2008 amended by Regulation No. 1210/2008 of 
20 November 2008). The above mentioned Regulation was amended in 2011 (Regulation (EU) 
No. 581/2011) with the aim to extend its application until 31 December 2015 and also to increase the duty free tariff quotas for the products covered under Regulation EC No. 55/2008 for the years 
2013 to 2015.
2 
2.3.  The main reason for such an extension was that the Republic of Moldova is the poorest 
country on the European continent and that it was necessary to offer to the Republic of Moldova an 
improved access to the EU's market to support the development of its economy through increased 
export performance. The general level of imports from the Republic of Moldova was a mere 0.04% 
                                               
1 WT/L/722 European Communities - Application of Au tonomous Preferential Treatment to Moldova, 
Decision of 7 May 2008 adopted in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII 
of the WTO Agreement agreed by the General Council on 15 November 1995 (WT/L/93). 
2 The EU will, if need be, ask for the exte nsion of the current waiver in due time. WT/L/882 
 
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  of all EU imports. In addition, the EU committed itself in the 2005 European Neighbourhood Action 
Plan (ENP Action Plan) for Moldova to consider  granting Moldova additional autonomous trade 
preferences beyond the Generalized System of Pr eferences, provided that Moldova substantially 
improved its system of controls and certification of origin of goods. In 2006 Moldova reformed its 
customs legislation and a satisfactory level of implementation of the new legislation was reached 
at the beginning of 2007. 
2.4.  Also in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the EU-Moldova ENP 
Action plan and the Eastern Partnership, Moldova has made enormous efforts and has adopted an 
ambitious agenda for political association and further economic integration with the EU. The 
current negotiations of the Association Agreemen t are a good example. The strong progress made 
on regulatory approximation leading to converge with the EU laws and standards has lead to the 
start of negotiations of a deep and comprehensiv e free trade area (DCFTA) in the framework of the 
Association agreement. 
3  NEGOTIATIONS OF A DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (DCFTA) 
BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND THE EU 
3.1.  The Eastern Partnership initiative, which involves the EU, its Member States and the Eastern 
European countries benefiting from the European Neighbourhood Policy3 (including Moldova) 
includes an offer from the EU to conclude a FTA in line with Article XXIV of the GATT 1994, with 
each of the countries concerned, when these countries are members of the WTO and have made sufficient progress so as to be ready to negotiate and implement such agreements. In early June 2010 a fact finding mission of the European Commission visited Moldova in order to assess 
Moldova's readiness to take on and implement the commitments of an FTA between the EU and 
Moldova and to sustain the effects of far-reaching market access liberalization and regulatory approximation. In October 2010 the European Commission presented to Moldova key 
recommendations for reform, which were the basis for the adoption by Moldova of an "Action Plan 
for implementing the Recommendations for a futu re DCFTA between the Republic of Moldova and 
the European Union". 
3.2.  Negotiations of a DCFTA were launched in February 2012 (after the necessary conditions 
were fulfilled). Both sides have aimed for an ambitious agreement, with a broad scope and wide regulatory approximation with the EU acquis in  trade and trade related areas. Autumn 2013 has 
been established as a deadline to conclude the negotiations and so far, technical conclusion of 
negotiations by the ENP Vilnius Summit in November 2013 seems reasonable. In parallel to the 
negotiations, Moldova has to continue the reforms it started back in late 2010 and their proper implementation on the ground, which is the only way to ensure that Moldova will fully benefit from 
the DCFTA once it is in force. 
4  TRADE WITH THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA 4.1.  In the year 2012 EU imports from the Republic  of Moldova concentrated primarily on textile, 
clothing and machinery and transport equipment as well as on agricultural products. The imports 
of agricultural products continue to increase si nce 2008. The drop of imports of iron and steel 
which started in 2010 continued in 2011 and was even more acute in 2012, while imports on machinery and transport equipment and clothing have increased over this year in comparison with 
the previous year. However, the overall trade ba lance of the Republic of Moldova with the EU 
deteriorated from €-712 million in 2009 to €-946 million in 2010, €-1,016 million in 2011 and €-1,097 million in 2012, while the total trade with th e Republic of Moldova remained rather low at 
0.1 per cent of total EU trade with the rest of the world. The export opportunities under the ATP 
should help the Republic of Moldova to withstand the consequences of the worldwide economic downturn, to diversify and modernize its economy, and improve its future trade balance. 
4.2.  Statistical annexes are provided to present a detailed description of the EU trade relations 
with the Republic of Moldova for the year 2012. 
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3 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,  Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. WT/L/882 
 
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  ANNEX: MOLDOVA 
Population in Mio 3.6  
Area in 1000skm (2007) 33,8  
Gross Domestic Product in BN € 5,25  
GDP Per Capita in euro (2011) 1,475  
EU 27 TRADE WITH MOLDOVA 
 IMPORTS 
Rank 2012: 77 EXPORTS 
Rank 2012: 65 TRADE BALANCE 
Year Value 
(Mio €) Share of total 
EU imports Value 
(Mio €) Share of total 
EU exports Value (Mio €) 
2005 435 0.04 1,080 0.10 645  
2006 514 0.04 1,183 0.10 669  
2007 728 0.05 1,495 0.12 767  
2008 748 0.05 1,705 0.13 957  
2009 516 0.04 1,230 0.11 714  
2010 582 0.04 1,528 0.11 946  
2011 842 0.05 1,858 0.11 1,016  
2012 940 0.10 2,037 0.11 1,097  
MAIN PRODUCTS 2012 
EU 27 Imports EU 27 Exports 
SITC Rev.3 
Product 
Groups Value 
(Mio 
€) Share by 
products 
(%) Share 
of 
totals 
(%) SITC Rev.3 
Product 
Groups Value 
(Mio 
€) Share by 
products 
(%) Share 
of 
totals 
(%) Balance 
TOTAL 940.0 100.0 0.1 TOTAL 2,037 100.0 0.1 1,097.0  
Primary 
products 345.0 36.7 0.0  Primary 
products 560.0  27.5 0.2 215.0  
Agricultural 
products 289.0 30.7 0.2 Agricultural 
products 228.0 11.2 0.2 -61.0  
Fuels and 
Mining Products 56.0 6.0 0.0 Fuels and 
Mining Products 333.0 16.3 0.2 277.0
 
Manufactures 592.0 63.0 0.1  Manufactures  1,459  71.6 0.1 867.0  
Iron and steel 49.0 5.2 0.2 Iron and steel 27.0 1.3 0.1 -22.0  
Chemicals 5.0 0.5 0.0 Chemicals 257.0 12.6 0.1 252.0  
Other semi-
manufactures 24.0 2.6 0.0 Other semi-
manufactures 206.0 10.1 0.2 182.0  
Machinery 
and transport equipment 158.0 16.8 0.0 Machinery and 
transport equipment 635.0 31.2 0.1 477.0
 WT/L/882 
 
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  EU 27 Imports EU 27 Exports 
SITC Rev.3 
Product 
Groups Value 
(Mio 
€) Share by 
products 
(%) Share 
of 
totals 
(%) SITC Rev.3 
Product 
Groups Value 
(Mio 
€) Share by 
products 
(%) Share 
of 
totals 
(%) Balance 
Textiles 38.0 4.1 0.2 Textiles 129.0 6.3 0.7 91.0  
Clothing 172.0 18.3 0.2 Clothing 37.0 1.8 0.2 -135.0  
Other 
manufactures 145.0 15.4 0.1 Other 
manufactures 168.0 8.2 0.1 23.0  
Other 
products 1.0 0.1 0.0 Other 
products 13.0 0.7 0.0 12.0  
 
World excluding Intra-EU trade an d European Union: 27 members. 
Source : Eurostat (Comext), Worldbank. 
 
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