On 17 October, the second meeting of the Armenia-EU Trade Partnership Committee was held in Brussels, where a variety of topics were discussed, reported arka.am.
The discussion's focus was on the measures and roadmaps for the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU (CEPA) concerning trade, customs, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary services, e-commerce, current payments and capital flows, intellectual property, public procurement, sustainable development and competition. The parties also signed a decision of the Armenia-EU Trade Partnership Committee on the approval of the list of arbitrators.
The sides discussed also a set of issues related to the protection of the “champagne” and “cognac” trademarks, enshrined in Article 237 of the Agreement, the process of implementing the provisions of the Agreement and further work in this direction, as well as the results of the meeting of the Armenia-EU Geographical Indications Committee.
Article 237 of the agreement states that “[f]or a transitional period of 24 years to count as of one year after the entry into force of this Agreement for "Cognac" and for a transitional period of three years after the entry into force of this Agreement for "Champagne", the protection pursuant to this Agreement of those geographical indications of the European Union shall not preclude those names from being used on products originating in the Republic of Armenia and exported to third countries, where the laws and regulations of the third country concerned so permit, in order to designate and present certain comparable products originating in the Republic of Armenia, given the name is labelled exclusively in non-Latin characters; the true origin of the product is clearly labelled in the same field of vision; and nothing is misleading in the presentation of the product.” This provision was introduced due to the fact that the products of “cognac” and “champagne” were already branded in the EU as French alcoholic beverages and that the local producers in Armenia would have time to change their marketing and labelling when the agreement enters into force.
The discussion also included the latest developments in the field of trade and investment, EU monitoring within the framework of the GSP + preferential trade regime, new opportunities for implementing the Agreement, cooperation within the WTO, as well as other issues related to bilateral Armenia-EU cooperation.
Trade with the EU accounts for around 24.8% of Armenia's total trade. The EU is Armenia's biggest export market with a 28.4 % share in total Armenian exports, and the second biggest importer with a 23.1 % share in total Armenian imports. The EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) removes import duties from products coming into the EU market from vulnerable developing countries. The GSP+ package includes zero duties for 66% tariff lines for countries which implement core human rights, labour rights and other sustainable development conventions (27 in total). The total value of preferential imports from Armenia into the EU under GSP+ increased from €42 million in 2014 to €135 million in 2017, with base metals (90%) and apparel and clothing (3%) being the main beneficiaries of EU imports.
The CEPA was signed on November 24, 2017. After ratification by the Armenian parliament on April 11, 2018, the document came partially into force on June 1, 2018. The objectives of the agreement are to strengthen dialogue between Armenia and EU in all areas of mutual interest by developing close relations, supporting the strengthening of democracy and political, economic and institutional stability in Armenia, as well as expanding trade cooperation. Armenia is the only member country of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to have signed CEPA with the European Union. The agreement will fully enter into force upon ratification by all 28 EU member states and Armenia. 16 EU countries have ratified CEPA so far.
