YEREVAN, April 6. /ARKA/. Customs duty rates for imports of “sensitive” goods to Armenia and other Eurasian Economic Union member countries will be zeroed for a period of three months, Armenian Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan said on Monday.

He said the decision was approved by the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Board on April 3 and after the entry into force it will apply to legal relations that have arisen from April 1 to June 30.

He said the sensitive goods are potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and a number of others. ‘If the customs duty rate is 10-13% or if there is a is specific rate per kilogram of imported goods, they will be zeroed,’ he said adding that this measures is aimed at helping member countries to avoid difficulties regarding the amount of imports from third countries.

He emphasized that this list contains goods that are significant for Armenia, such as medicines. In his words, if the customs rates for import of medicines now ranges from 3% to 6.5%, when the decision is published and comes into force they will be zeroed.

He added that the current rates on imports of peppers, cabbage, garlic and baby food is 10-10%, which will be zeroed as well as the specific rate of 0.046 euros for each kg of baby juices, as well as the 10% rate , but not less than 03 euro per kg for long grain rice.

The deputy minister said as for butter and chicken meat, if the EEU countries can meet mutual needs, then customs rates for import of these goods will not be nullified. He said otherwise zero rates would damage their domestic producer.

He also recalled that the government of Armenia succeeded in extending the list of exemptions for more than 900 goods for another year until January 1, 2021.

"The previous rates will be valid for Armenian companies, which are lower than the customs duties applicable in the territory of the EEU and Armenia is in a better position in this situation," Simonyan said. --0--