A report about Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement prepared by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and the Open Society Georgia Foundation was presented in the parliament to the Georgian Parliament committee of Euro-Integration. The presentation was attended by the committee members from the Economic Sector, Economic Policy, Foreign Relations and Agricultural Issues.
Today’s discussion was concentrated around the impacts of the DCFTA on the Agricultural sector. According to EPRC, the purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of the DCFTA agreement, between Georgia and the EU, on the trade of the agricultural products, given the socio-economic importance of that sector for the country. As a result of the study, the export tendencies, between Georgia and the European Union were evaluated, and the trade tendencies of the agricultural products were also studied. Additionally the study presented the analysis for the limiting factors of the agricultural products trade, taking both trade tariffs and non-tariff barriers into account. The report also entailed information regarding the trade conditions of the DCFTA. As a result of the study recommendations were developed for the policy makers, in order to assist them in maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks after signing the agreement.
On the meeting, Head of the European-Integration committee Victor Dolidze expressed gratitude towards the the NGO sector. He stated that, “signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement is one thing, but its implementation and fulfillment is much harder and is an important process. Specifically for that reason, the Parliament pays a special attention to the implementation of the reforms”.
