Georgia has made major progress in combating corruption and has become an international leader in this respect. It remains committed to continuing reforms in this direction, which is crucial for the overall success of the Association Agreement and Georgia’s economic future. These reforms link to the conditions that the EU set for extending visa-free access for Georgian citizens to travel to the EU. According to the European Commission, the conditions for this have been met, and a final decision by the Council of the European Union on the scrapping of visas for short-term visits is awaited. Foreign and security policy is a crucial component of EU– Georgian cooperation, given both Georgia’s strategic objective of integration with the EU and the need to counter security threats posed by Russia. Georgia aligns itself on many EU positions adopted in international diplomacy and is one of the most active non-member state partners of the EU in several military missions. The most significant security action by the EU in Georgia so far is its Monitoring Mission.

 

(EUMM) along the occupation lines of the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This action began in October 2008 after the war with Russia and continues in 2018.

The elimination of tariffs forms the classic basis of a free trade area. Georgia is an exceptional case in that it unilaterally and radically liberalised its external trade policies as early as 2006. With the DCFTA, the EU caught up with Georgia in liberalising its imports and, since 1 September 2014, the two parties enjoy virtually completely tariff-free trade for exports and imports, making the pact unique compared with the other two DCFTAs. The first year of the DCFTA has seen only a modest growth of exports to the EU. But this compares with massive declines in Georgia’s trade with Russia and Ukraine, and so overall there is a major change in trade structure in the direction of the EU. The positive effects of the DCFTA are likely to build up strongly over the medium to long term, since the Georgian economy has already absorbed the adjustment to competitive, open market conditions. Development of export-oriented industries will be facilitated by progressive approximation to the EU’s technical standards for industrial and agricultural goods. Georgia is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with China, and could become a location of choice for Chinese direct investment aimed at exporting to the EU market. The DCFTA includes key measures to ensure fast, efficient and transparent customs services, and Georgia is advancing well with its legislative and institutional commitments. Georgia implemented significant reforms in customs policy for trade facilitation well before the signature of the Agreement and DCFTA. Adoption of European technical regulations and standards for industrial and agri-food products is vital for the modernisation and competitiveness of Georgian products. The government has adopted comprehensive strategies and an ambitious programme for industrial standards, thus to eliminate technical barriers to trade (TBTs), as well as food safety with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations. These involve ambitious long-term objectives, and Georgia should adopt a gradual and progressive approach so as not to incur undue costs in the short run.

 

Regulations

Chapter 27 of the Tax Code of Georgia defines the list of products subject to excise and rate of the excise.

Chapter 28 of the Tax Code of Georgia defines objects subject to import taxation, import rate of products, as well as discharge of certain goods from import duty and other import regulations.

Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurial Activity regulates legal forms of the entrepreneurial activities and defines equal and non-discriminative norms for local and foreign entrepreneurs.

Law of Georgia on Licenses and Permits regulates spheres of licenses and permits and determines the comprehensive list of licenses and permits, including types of import and export products. Also defines rules on issuance of licenses and permits, making changes and revoking them.

There are no restrictions of licensing requirements or other non-tariff barriers, except for necessity to protect public health, national security and environment.

Law of Georgia on Control of Export and Import Products of Armament, Military Equipment, and Dual Use Items determines rules and grounds for conducting control on exporting and importing products of armament, equipment for military purposes, raw materials, materials,  equipment, technologies, scientific-technical information and their production.

Ordinance № 408 of the President of Georgia, asserts the list of the dual use items.

Law of Georgia on Protection of Consumer Rights (Chapter 1, Article 6), defines labeling requirements, which ensures to provide necessary, authentic, and absolute information for consumers, to which are subordinated import products as well.

Law of Georgia on Certification of Goods and Services contains general requirements for products safety and among which includes process of production packaging, marking, and labeling or existing production requirements.

Law of Georgia on Standardization defines rules, general principles, and features for goods and their production methods. Use of standards is not necessary. Standards can also imply terminology, symbols, packaging, and marking, labeling processes or requirements for production methodology.

Law of Georgia on Free Trade and Competition determines level of independence of economic agents and creates conditions of free market access for entrepreneurs.

In Georgia, regarding the creation of objects of intellectual property (invention, useful model, entrepreneurial sample, trade mark, geographical indication, topography of intellectual microchips, author’s and allied rights), utilization and legal protection, and arising property and private non-property relations are regulated by legislative acts: Law of Georgia on Patent, Law of Georgia on Trade Marks, Law of Georgia on indication of Place of Origin and Geographical Indicators, Law of Georgia on Author’s and Adjacent Rights, and Law of Georgia on Bordering Measures of Intellectual Property.

Law of Georgia on Commodity Exchange and Trade Exchange defines trade related legal relations of commodity exchange (and its branches) and trade exchange and provides their legal guarantees.

Decree №420 of the Government of Georgia regulates criteria for determining countries of origin, forms of certificates of origin, and ways to filling and issuing them.

 

 

REFERENCES:  GEORGIA AND EUROPE MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT