BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/10/2008

Minsk Hopes to Sign "Fundamental" Trade Agreement With Eu

MINSK. Oct 22 (Interfax) - Belarus is proposing to sign a trade agreement with the European Union, which should cover all areas of their economic relations, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Yevdochenko told journalists in Minsk on Wednesday.

"A European Commission delegation is expected to arrive in Belarus very soon. We are ready for talks on a fundamental trade agreement and are ready to enter the active stage of the discussion," Yevdochenko said.

The exact date of the EU delegation has yet to be confirmed, but "the advanced group should arrive in early November," he said.

This dialogue continues the discussion of the subjects raised by Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov at his meeting with leaders of the European Union and the European Commission in Luxembourg in October.

Apart from the discussion of the trade agreement with the EU, at the November talks Belarus is going to ask the EU to lift all quotas on Belarusian textile exports to the EU countries and to restore Belarus' position in the system of EU trade preferences.

In 1997 Belarus had a forced trade agreement with the EU, Yevdochenko said.

"Since then the relations in this direction have been frozen, there has also been fundamental progress in both Belarusian and EU economies and their bilateral relations. The previous agreement does not meet today's challenges," said the deputy minister, adding that trade between Belarus and the EU exceeds $20 billion.

Commenting on the recent talks between Belarus and the European Commission on quotas on the Belarusian textile export to the EU, the deputy minister said that the parties had agreed to lift quotas on categories 13 and 32 from January 1, 2009.

Belarus has welcomed this EU decision as a positive step.

Source:

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2730481.html

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