WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/L/815 
15 July 2011 
 (11-3551) 
General Council 
27-28 July 2011 Original:   English 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN UNION – REQUEST FOR A WAIVER FOR THE 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 11 July 2011, 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 2010. 
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 
                                                      
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/815 
Page 2  
 
  agricultural products (Council Regulation No. 55/ 2008 amended by Regulation No. 1210/2008 of 
20 November 2008). 
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. 
3. Prospects for the creation of a free trade area 
7. For the time being, no date has been set for the start of negotiations on a Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA) between the EU and Moldova. Ho wever, the Eastern Partnership initiative, which 
involves the EU, its Member States and the Eastern European countries benefiting from the European 
Neighbourhood Policy
2 (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 fi nding 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 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 future Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) between the Republic  of Moldova and the European Union". 
4. Trade with the Republic of Moldova 
8. In the year 2010 EU imports from the Republic of  Moldova concentrated primarily on textile 
and clothing, as well as on agricultural products. The im ports of agricultural products went up slightly 
in comparison to 2008, while overall imports fro m Moldova declined due to the global economic 
crisis. This can especially be seen in the drop of im ports of iron and steel. However, the overall trade 
balance of the Republic of Moldova with th e EU deteriorated from €-712 million in 2009 to 
€-946 million in 2010, while the total trade with th e Republic of Moldova remained rather low at 
0.074 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. 
9. Statistical annexes are provided to present a de tailed description of the EU trade relations 
with the Republic of Moldova for the year 2010. 
                                                      
2 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine.  WT/L/815 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX:  MOLDOVA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
EU 27 TRADE WITH MOLDOVA 
 
 IMPORTS 
Rank 2010: 81 EXPORTS 
Rank 2010: 66 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 
 
MAIN PRODUCTS 2010 
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 581.9 100.0 0.0 TOTAL 1,528 100.0 0.1 946 
Primary 
products  193 33.2 0.0 Primary 
products 378 24.8 0.2 185 
Agricultural 
products 158.5 27.2 0.1 Agricultural 
products 186.1 12.2 0.2 27.6 
Fuels and Mining Products 34.8 6.0 0.0 Fuels and 
Mining 
Products 192.2 12.6 0,2 157.3 
Manufactures  386.6 66.4 0.0 Manufactures 1,134 74.2 0.1 747.6 
Iron and steel   21.4 3.7 0.1 Iron and steel 16.0 1.0 0,0 -5.4 
Chemicals 4.5 0.8 0.0 Chemicals 205.6 13.4 0.1 201.1 
Other semi-
manufactures 24.8 4.3 0.0 Other semi-
manufactures 165.7 10.8 0.2 140.9 
Machinery and 
transport 
equipment  48.4 8.3 0.0 Machinery and 
transport 
equipment 457.4 29.9 0.1 409.0 
Textiles 49.2 8.5 0.2 Te xtiles 117.7 7.7 0.8 68.5 
Clothing 147.9 25.4 0.2 Clot hing 37.3 2.4 0.2 -110.6 
Other 
manufactures 90.5 15.5 0.1 Other 134.4 8.8 0.1 44.0 
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 € 4,4 
GDP Per Capita in euro 1,230