MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

On December 12-13, 2023, the 10th regular meeting of the Association Committee on Trade Issues between Georgia and the European Union, established for implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement (DCFTA) provided for by the Georgia-EU Association Agreement, was held in Tbilisi.

Genadi Arveladze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and Ignacio Iruarrizaga Diez, Directorate-General for Trade, Head of Unit E.1: Europe and Eastern Neighbourhood, co-chaired the session.

Within the framework of the Agreement, such issues as customs issues, trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, public procurement, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition, trade and sustainable development and others were discussed during the session.

The relevant agencies provided the representatives of the European Union with the information about the implemented and ongoing reforms of 2023, which are in accordance with the commitments under the DCFTA in those areas.

The parties agreed to start working on the development of the DCFTA priority action plan, the initial draft of which was prepared by the Georgian side and submitted to the European Commission. The plan envisages mutually agreed priority reforms, the implementation of which will make the benefits received from the DCFTA even more tangible. Moldova and Ukraine have already developed similar plans.

At the end of the meeting, the EU side gave a positive evaluation of Georgia's progress in fulfilment of its obligations under the DCFTA.