WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/764 
21 July 2009 
 (09-3563) 
General Council 
28-29 July 2009 Original:   English 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES - REQUEST FO R A WAIVER FOR THE APPLICATION  
OF AUTONOMOUS PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
TO THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA 
 
Report of the European Community under the Decision of 7 May 20081 
   The following communication, dated 20 July 2009, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the European Commission. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. Introduction 
1. On 11 March 2008, the EU was granted a wa iver (WT/L/722) from its obligations under 
paragraph 1 of Article I of the GATT 1994 to the extent necessary to permit the European Community 
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. 
2. Under the terms of this waiver, the European Community is required to submit to the General 
Council an annual report on the preferences and dut y-free treatment afforded to products from the 
Republic of Moldova, including the extent to wh ich such preferences and duty-free treatment differ 
from the European Communities' MFN and GSP con cessions, with a view to facilitating the annual 
review provided for in paragraph 4 of Article IX of the WTO Agre ement.  This report covers the 
calendar year 2008. 
3. The EU trade regime vis-à-vis  the Republic of Moldova is curre ntly regulated by the granting 
of autonomous trade preferences.  
2. Autonomous trade preferences 
4. Before 2008, the European Union already had a liberal trade regime towards the Republic of 
Moldova. Indeed, Moldova benefited from the sp ecial incentive arrangement for sustainable 
development and good governance under the EU Generalised System of Preferences.   
5. 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 a nd by improving access to the Community market for 
agricultural products. 
                                                     
 
1 WT/L/722. WT/L/764 
Page 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 European Communities' ma rket to support the development of its economy 
through increased export performance. The general level of imports from the Republic of Moldova 
was a mere 0.03% of all EC imports. In addition,  the European Communities' committed itself in the 
2005 European Neighbourhood Action Plan (ENP Action Plan) for Moldova to consider granting 
Moldova additional autonomous trade preferences beyond the Generalised System of Preferences, 
provided that Moldova substantially improved its syst em of controls and certification of origin of 
goods. In 2006 Moldova reformed its customs legislat ion and a satisfactory level of implementation of 
the 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 th e start of negotiations on a FTA between the EC 
and Moldova. However, the newly established "Easter n Partnership" involving the EU, its Member 
States and the Eastern European countries bene fiting from the European Neighbourhood Policy
2 
(including Moldova) includes an offer from the EU to conclude Free Trade Agreements 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.  
4. Trade with the countries of the Western Balkans 
8. In the year 2008 EU imports from the Republic of  Moldova concentrated primarily on textile 
and clothing, iron and steel as well as on agricultura l products. The trade balance for the Republic of 
Moldova remained negative for all sectors, excep t for textiles and clothing and iron and steel 
products. The overall trade balance of  the Republic of Moldova with th e EC deteriorated continuously 
since 2004, reaching a record negative level of  € -9 57 million in 2008.  Total trade with the Republic 
of Moldova remained also low, at 0.1 per cent of to tal EU trade with the rest of the world. The new 
export opportunities described in the precedent para graphs should help the Republic of Moldova to 
diversify and modernise its economy and to  ameliorate such a 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 2008. 
                                                     
 
2 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine.  WT/L/764 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
ANNEX: MOLDOVA 
 
 
 
  
 
  
EU 27 TRADE WITH MOLDOVA 
 
 IMPORTS 
Rank 2008: 82 EXPORTS  
Rank 2008: 67 TRADE 
BALANCE 
Year Value 
(Mio €) Share of total 
EU imports Value 
(Mio €) Share of 
total EU 
exports Value (Mio €) 
2004 520 0.05 915 0.10 395 
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 
 
MAIN PRODUCTS 2008 
 
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 748 0.0 100.0 TOTAL 1,705 0.1 100.0 957 
Agricultural 
products 142 0.1 19.0 Agricultural 
products 146 0.2 8.5 3 
Energy 41 0.0 5.5 Energy 232 0.3 13.6 191 
Non-agricultural raw materials 0 0.0 0.0 Non-
agricultural raw materials 10 0.3 0.6 9 
Office/telecom
. Equipment 3 0.0 0.4 Office/telecom
. Equipment 77 0.1 4.5 74 
Power/non-
electrical 
mach. 7 0.0 1.0 Power/non-
electrical 
mach. 185 0.1 10.9 178 
Transport 
equipment 4 0.0 0.5 Transport 
equipment 204 0.1 12.0 200 
Chemicals 3 0.0 0.4 Chemicals 195 0.1 11.5 192 
Textiles and 
clothing 179 0.2 24.0 Textiles and 
clothing 154 0.4 9.0 -25 
Iron and steel 180 0.4 24.1 Iron and steel 16 0.0 0.9 -165 
 
World excluding Intra-EU trade and European Union: 27 members. 
Source : Eurostat (Comext), FMI. 
__________  Population in Mio  3.4 
Area in 1000skm (2007) 34 
Gross Domestic Product in BN € 4.2 
GDP Per Capita in euro 1,230