WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/800 
12 July 2010 
 (10-3795) 
General Council 
29-30 July 2010 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 2 July 2010,  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 2009. 
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 Generali sed 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 
20 November 2008).  
                                                     
 
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/800 
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 EU's market to support th e 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 EU imports.  In addition, the EU committe d 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 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 regulatory approximation. 
4. Trade with the Republic of Moldova 
8. In the year 2009 EU imports from the Republic of  Moldova concentrated primarily on textile 
and clothing, as well as on agricultural products.  The imports of agricultural products went up 
slightly in comparison to 2008, while overall im ports from Moldova declined due to the global 
economic crisis.  This can especially be seen in th e drop of imports of iron and steel. However, the 
overall trade balance of the Republic of Moldova with the EU improved from €957 in 2008 to €714 in 
2009, while the total trade with the Republic of Mold ova remained rather low at 0.15 per cent of total 
EU trade with the rest of the world.  The expor t opportunities under the ATP should help the Republic 
of Moldova to withstand the consequences of th e worldwide economic downturn, to diversify and 
modernize its economy, and further improve its 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 2009.  
                                                     
 
2 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine.  WT/L/800 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX: MOLDOVA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU 27 TRADE WITH MOLDOVA 
 IMPORTS 
Rank 2009: 81 EXPORTS  
Rank 2009: 65 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 
2009 516 0.04 1,230 0.11 714 
 
MAIN PRODUCTS 2009 
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 515.7 100.0 0.2 TOTAL 1,233 100.0 0.1 718 
Primary 
products  183 35.5 0.0 Primary 
products  283 23 0.2 100 
Agricultural 
products 151 29.0 0.2 Agricultural 
products 127 10.3 0.2 -24 
Fuels and Mining Products 32 6.2 0.0 Fuels and 
Mining Products 156 12.7 0.2 124 
Manufactures  323 62.7 0.0 Manufactures  901 73.1 0.1 578 
Iron and steel 33.1 6.4 0.2 Iron and steel 9.8 0.8 0.0 -23,3 
Chemicals 3.8 0.7 0.0 Chemicals 176 14.3 0.1 172,2 
Other semi-
manufactures 22.1 4.3 0.0 Other semi-
manufactures 120 9.8 0.1 97,9 
Machinery and 
transport 
equipment  30.5 5.9 0.0 Machinery and 
transport 
equipment 349,6 28.4 0.1 319,1 
Textiles 37.2 7.2 0.2 Textiles 93 7.5 0.7 55,8 
Clothing 126.3 24.5 0.2 Clothing 41,8 3.4 0.3 -84,5 
Other 
manufactures 70.2 13.6 0.1 Other 110,2 8.9 0.1 40 
World excluding Intra-EU trade and European Union: 27 members. 
Source : Eurostat (Comext), FMI.   __________  Population in Mio  3.4 
Area in 1000skm (2007) 33.8 
Gross Domestic Product in BN € 4.2 
GDP Per Capita in euro 1,230