WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/L/861 
10 July 2012 
 (12-3706) 
General Council 
25-26 July 2012  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 2008
1 
 
  The following communication, dated 4 July 2012,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Union. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. Introduction 
1. On 7 May 2008, the European Union (EU) was granted a waiver (WT/L/722) from its 
obligations under paragra ph 1 of Article I of the GATT 1994 to the extent necessary to permit the EU 
to afford duty-free or preferential treatment to e ligible products originating in the Republic of 
Moldova, without being required to extend the sam e duty-free or preferential treatment to like 
products of any other member.  This waiver a pplies from 1 March 2008 until 31 December 2013. 
2. Under the terms of this waiver, the EU is re quired to submit to the General Council an annual 
report on the preferences and duty-free treatment a fforded to products from the Republic of Moldova, 
including the extent to which su ch preferences and duty-free treatment differ from the EU's MFN and 
GSP concessions, with a view to facilitating the annual review provided fo r in paragraph 4 of 
Article IX of the WTO Agreement.  This  report covers the calendar year 2011. 
3. The EU trade regime vis-à-vis  the Republic of Moldova is curre ntly regulated by the granting 
of autonomous trade preferences (ATP). 
2. Autonomous trade preferences 
4. Before 2008, the EU already had a liberal tr ade regime towards the Republic of Moldova. 
Indeed, Moldova benefited from the special incentiv e arrangement for sustainable development and 
good governance under the EU Genera lised System of Preferences. 
5. On 21 January 2008  the EU Council of Ministers extende d 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 
                                                      
1 WT/L/722 European Communities – Application of  Autonomous 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). WT/L/861 
Page 2  
 
  20 November 2008).  The above mentioned Regula tion was amended in 2011 (Regulation (EU) 
No. 581/2011) with the aim to extend its applicatio n until 31 December 2015 and also to increase the 
duty free tariff quotas for the products covered unde r Regulation EC No. 55/2008 for the years 2013 
to 2015.
2 
6. 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 n ecessary to offer to the Republic of Moldova an 
improved access to the EU's market to support th e development of its economy through increased 
export performance. The general leve l of imports from the Republic of Moldova was a mere 0.04% of 
all EU imports. In addition, the EU committed itself in the 2005 Eur opean Neighbourhood Action 
Plan (ENP Action Plan) for Moldova to consider granting Moldova additional autonomous trade 
preferences beyond the Generalised System of Pref erences, provided that Moldova substantially 
improved its system of controls and certification of origin of goods.  In 2006 Moldova reformed its 
customs legislation and a satisfact ory level of implementation of th e new legislation was reached at 
the beginning of 2007. 
7. 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 furthe r economic integration with the EU.  The current 
negotiations of the Association Agreement 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 comprehensive 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 
8. The Eastern Partnership initiative, which involves the EU, its Member States and the Eastern 
European countries benefiting from the European Neighbourhood Policy
3 (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 count ries 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 liberalisation and regulat ory approximation.  In 
October 2010 the European Commission presented to Moldova key recommendations for reform, 
which were the basis for the adoption by Mold ova of an "Action Plan for implementing the 
Recommendations for a future DCFTA between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union". 
9. Negotiations of a DCFTA were launched in Fe bruary 2012 (after the necessary conditions 
were fulfilled).  Both sides aim for an ambitious ag reement, with a broad sc ope 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. In parallel to the negotiations, Moldova has to continue the 
reforms it started back in late 2010 and their prope r implementation on the ground, which is the only 
way to ensure that Moldova will fully bene fit from the DCFTA once it is in force.  
4. Trade with the Republic of Moldova 
10. In the year 2011 EU imports from the Republic of  Moldova concentrated primarily on textile 
and clothing, as well as on agricultural products.  Th e imports of agricultural products continue to 
                                                      
2 The EU will, if need be, ask for the extension of the current waiver in due time.   
3 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine.  WT/L/861 
 Page 3 
 
 
  increase since 2008, while overall imports from Moldova  declined due to the global economic crisis 
as we already observed last year.  The drop of imports of iron and steel which started in 2010 continued in 2011, while imports on machinery and tr ansport equipment and clothing have increased 
over this year in comparison with the previous ye ar.  However, the overall trade balance of the 
Republic of Moldova with the EU deteriorated from €-712 million in 2009 to  €-946 million in 2010 
and €-1,016 million in 2011 , while the total trade w ith the 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 withst and the consequences of the worldwide economic 
downturn, to diversify and modernize its econom y, and improve its future trade balance. 
11. Statistical annexes are provided to present a de tailed description of the EU trade relations 
with the Republic of Moldova for the year 2011. WT/L/861 
Page 4  
 
  ANNEX: MOLDOVA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
EU 27 TRADE WITH MOLDOVA 
 
 IMPORTS 
Rank 2011: 78 EXPORTS 
Rank 2011: 62 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 
 
MAIN PRODUCTS 2011 
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 727.0 100.0 0.0 TOTAL 1,493 100.0 0.1 1,015.9 
Primary 
products  225.8 31.1 0.0 Primary 
products 328.2 22 0.2 134.2 
Agricultural 
products 150.4 20.7 0.2 Agricultural 
products 133.7 9.0 0.2 -91.4 
Fuels and 
Mining Products 75.5 10.4 0.0 Fuels and 
Mining 
Products 194.4 13 0.2 225.6 
Manufactures  495.8 68.2 0.1 Manufactures 1,152 77.2 0.1 861.5 
Iron and steel   147.8 20.3 0.1 Iron and steel 10.2 0.7 0.0 -7.6 
Chemicals 3.5 0.5 0.0 Chemicals 179.5 12.0 0.1 223.5 
Other semi-
manufactures 42.9 5.9 0.0 Other semi-
manufactures 194.8 13.0 0.2 164.8 
Machinery and 
transport 
equipment  17.9 2.5 0.0 Machinery and 
transport 
equipment 487.4 32.6 0.1 525.4 
Textiles 39.5 5.4 0.2 Te xtiles 104.6 7.0 0.8 77.9 
Clothing 147.3 20.3 0.2 Clot hing 50.5 3.4 0.2 -137.4 
Other 
manufactures 97.1 13.4 0.1 Other 126.0 8.4 0.1 14.7 
World excluding Intra-EU trade and European Union: 27 members. 
Source :  Eurostat (Comext), FMI. 
__________  Population in Mio  3.6 
Area in 1000skm (2007) 33,8 
Gross Domestic Product in BN € 5,2 
GDP Per Capita in euro 1,452