European Parliament's Committee on International Trade approved one- year extension of tax suspension for imports from Moldova

Chisinau, June 27. /MOLDPRES/- The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade voted today on the regulation that provides for the one-year extension of the suspension of import duties and quotas on Moldovan exports to the European Union.

"Next is the final vote on this regulation in the plenary session of the Parliament, which we will give in the scheduled session at the beginning of July. In this way, we ensure that the new decision is adopted on time, before the current decision to suspend import duties expires, July 24, 2023", said MEP Siegfried Mureșan.

The official pointed out that the war in Ukraine strongly affected the economy of the Republic of Moldova, and Moldovan products, which were exported to the east, passing through Ukraine, were left without a market. "That is precisely why, in 2022, we have decided at the European level to suspend import duties and raise quotas for the seven product categories subject to tariff quotas: tomatoes, garlic, grapes, apples, cherries, plums and juice grapes", Mureșan said.

According to the MEP, access to the European market has significantly helped the Republic of Moldova in the last year, "as a whole, exports from Moldova to the EU increased from 1.8 billion euros in 2021 to 2.6 billion euros in 2022".

Siegfried Mureșan explained that today's decision renews for one year, starting from July 24, the measure of suspension of import duties from the Republic of Moldova. In addition, the decision extends this suspension to all remaining tariff quotas for Moldovan imports. "It is a good measure, which helps the Republic of Moldova a lot, without affecting the European Union market. Due to the large size of the EU market, compared to Moldova's export potential, the costs that the European Union must bear for the implementation of this decision are almost insignificant. Precisely for this reason, I consider that the next natural step is the permanent liberalization of trade between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union", concluded Mureșan.

In early May, the European Commission proposed a one-year extension of the suspension of import duteis and quotas on Moldovan exports to the European Union.