Ninth meeting of the EU-Georgia Association Committee in Trade Configuration

On 13 and 14 December of 2022, the ninth meeting of the EU-Georgia Association Committee in Trade Configuration, created within the framework of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement (DCFTA) between the European Union and Georgia, was held in Brussels. The Georgian delegation was headed by Mr. Genadi Arveladze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development.

The representatives of the state agencies involved in the implementation of the DCFTA and the relevant directorates of the European Commission participated in the meeting. From the European Union side, the Committee was chaired by Ignacio Iruarrizaga Diez, Head of the Europe and Eastern Neighborhood Unit of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade.  During the Committee meeting, the parties discussed the trends of trade between Georgia and the European Union, as well as Georgia's progress in the implementation of the DCFTA in public procurement, competition, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, trade in services, and other areas.

The European Commission welcomed the fact that the European Union remains Georgia's number one trading partner and accounts for almost a quarter of the country's foreign trade. Reforms carried out by Georgia in the process of DCFTA implementation were assessed positively, both in the direction of legislative approximation and institutional development. A special emphasis was placed on the opening of procurement markets as a result of the implementation of the reforms envisaged by Phase I in the field of public procurement, which gives Georgian companies opportunity to participate in tenders announced by the central governments of the European Union.

The European Commission welcomed Georgia's membership in such European and international institutions as the European Metrology Organization (EURAMET), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), as well as Georgia's adoption of affiliate membership status in the European standardization organizations (CEN and CENELEC).

The delegation of the European Commission gave positive evaluation to the progress of Georgia's implementation of its obligations under the DCFTA and expressed its readiness to continue assisting Georgia in this process.