Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf issued a letter on Monday notifying President Masoud Pezeshkian of the law passed in the legislature governing the rules on free trade with the EAEU.
Ghalibaf said in the letter that the law is based on a bill passed in the parliament on February 4 and an approval of the Guardian Council, the body that vets parliament legislations, issued on March 2.
The law allows Iran to enjoy tariff-free exports on nearly 87 percent of its trade with members of the EAEU, namely Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
Iran and the EAEU were previously in a preferential trade arrangement based on a deal signed in June 2017 in Armenia.
A senior official from Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said that the country would start implementing the free trade deal with the EAEU within the next two months.
Akbar Godari, who leads TPO’s office for Central Asia, Caucasus and Russia, told the semi-official ILNA news agency on Monday that the parliaments of all EAEU member states have already approved the free trade deal with Iran, enabling their countries to start processing trade under new arrangements.
Godari said that the free trade deal with the EAEU would cover some 500 goods and commodities, adding that the agreement would significantly boost Iran’s ability to compete in regional markets.
Iran also signed an agreement on December 26 during an EAEU Supreme Council meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to become an observer member of the bloc.
Press TV