CIS Agreement on Free Trade in Services and Investments comes into force
BelTA | 5 June 2024
CIS Agreement on Free Trade in Services and Investments comes into force
MINSK, 5 June (BelTA) – The CIS Agreement on Free Trade in Services and Investments signed in 2023 has come into force, BelTA learned from the Economy Ministry of Belarus.
“For Belarus, this agreement will become the second international treaty regulating the free trade in services. The first one was the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union,” the ministry informed.
The agreement came into force in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For the remaining participants (Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan), the free trade zone in services will become operational as soon as the partners complete the internal procedures necessary for the ratification of the agreement.
The document is based on international practices and is aimed at creating transparent and sustainable conditions for access to the services sectors, manufacturing, and agriculture of the signatory states, as well as at invigorating trade and economic cooperation within the Commonwealth.
According to estimates of the CIS Executive Committee, the agreement is expected to generate a 25% boost in trade in services in the CIS.
The free trade regime for goods has already been effective within the CIS since 2012. “The formalization of arrangements on trade in services and investments was a significant step towards the formation of a full-scale free trade area,” the Economy Ministry added.
Belarus ratified the agreement by adopting Law No. 325-Z on 28 December 2023.
