ArmInfo.The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission decided to exempt food products and goods used in their production from import customs duties for six months. "This will definitely have a positive impact on prices," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed on March 24 at a government meeting.
The decision, in particular, concerns animal and dairy products, vegetables, sunflower seeds, juices, sugars, cocoa powder, amino acids, starches, enzymes and other food products, as well as, goods for the production and sale of food products are exempted from import duty for six months; goods for the production of pharmaceutical, metallurgical and electronic products; goods used for the development of digital technologies; goods for the production of light industry products, as well as goods used in the construction and transport industries. Here, the condition for granting a tariff exemption will be confirmation of the intended purpose of the import of goods. In addition, until April 30, 2023, the rate on apricot, pear, peach and other purees in packages of more than 40 kg has been reset to zero, and until April 30, 2025, on aniline and a number of types of fabrics for the production of outerwear as well.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, this decision was unprecedented. "We have carefully approached the compilation of the list of goods exempt from customs duties, so as not to suddenly harm the interests of our producers. We have a decision that will only have social significance: the customs duty is reset to zero on about 430 goods. This, of course, is a balanced decision, on average for half a year, but, nevertheless, it will have a positive impact on prices. Budget revenues will be reduced, but I think that this will be a much greater effect for consumers," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Grigoryan noted that work in this part is ongoing. According to him, an application has been submitted for exemption from customs duties for another group of goods, the application is under consideration by the Eurasian Economic Commission, and a list of goods that will be exempt from customs duties will be published in the near future. "This will have a positive effect and will definitely stop the rise in prices," Grigoryan concluded.
