Commonwealth of Independent States Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area

[2] Article 1 indicated that this was "the first stage of the creation of the Economic Union" (earlier envisaged by the Treaty on the creation of an Economic Union signed on 24 September 1993 by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan which were later joined by Turkmenistan and Georgia[3]), but on 2 April 1999 the countries agreed to remove this phrase from the agreement.

[5] According to the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as of 2023, the Agreement is in force for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine which signed and deposited the notification of ratification / execution of national procedures, while Russia and Turkmenistan have signed and notified the provisional application of the Agreement.

[2] On 2 April 1999, in Moscow, the presidents of 11 countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine signed a Protocol on Amendments and Additions to the Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area of 15 April 1994 (Russian: Протокол о внесении изменений и дополнений в Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли от 15 апреля 1994 года).

On 15 April 1994, at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of State in Moscow, the presidents of 12 countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine signed an Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area (Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли).

According to the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, no one has ceased participation in the Agreement, made reservations or suspended the application.

[12] According to the analytical material of the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 1994 version has not yet provided for multilateral free trade, but the conclusion of many bilateral agreements.

[5] On 2 April 1999, in Moscow, the presidents of 11 countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine signed a Protocol on Amendments and Additions to the Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area of 15 April 1994[17] (Протокол о внесении изменений и дополнений в Соглашение о создании зоны свободной торговли от 15 апреля 1994 года).

According to the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, no one has ceased participation in the Protocol or suspended the application, while 1 reservation was made by Azerbaijan on non-application in relation to Armenia and 2 specific opinions were expressed by Georgia and Ukraine.

[18] According to the analytical material of the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 1999 Protocol replaced the existing bilateral free trade regime with a multilateral regime, eliminated all fees, as well as taxes and levies with equivalent effect, and quantitative restrictions on the import and (or) export of goods in mutual trade of the FTA participating states, established a procedure for dispute resolution, etc.

The parties to the Agreement never started to agree on a common list of exemptions from the free trade regime, which, according to the terms of this international treaty, should have become an integral part of it.

[24] In 2007, a scientific article evaluated the legal framework for free trade in the post-Soviet space as a particular blend of 'à la carte multilateralism' and multiple bilateralism.

[28] As of 2023, Georgia Revenue Service subordinated to the Ministry of Finance of Georgia informs that free trade regime with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, except the Russian Federation, is regulated by the Multilateral Agreement on the Creation of a Free Trade Area for CIS Countries (1994).

The Agreement continues to apply in relations with the member states for which the Free Trade Area Treaty of 18 October 2011 has not entered into force, in particular, with Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The Treaty on the Creation of the Economic Union dated 24 September 1993. The information from the depository of the international agreement published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024. [ 1 ]
Regional Trade Agreements Database of the World Trade Organization . [ 10 ]
The Agreement on the Creation of Free Trade Area dated 15 April 1994. The information from the depository of the international agreement published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024. [ 11 ]
The Protocol on Amendments and Additions to the Agreement on the Creation of Free Trade Area. The information from the depository of the international agreement published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024. [ 14 ]
The Rules of origin dated 24 September 1993. The information from the depository of the international agreement published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024. [ 15 ]
The Rules of origin dated 30 November 2000. The information from the depository of the international agreement published on the Unified Register of Legal Acts and Other Documents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (under the executive committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States) as of 2024. [ 16 ]