Duty-free trade to start from July 29, 2015 / Photo from UNIAN
Duty-free treatment will cover 5,000 Ukrainian-made goods, including construction materials, agricultural and chemical products, according to Aivaras Abromavicius, Ukraine’s Minister of Economic Development.
The total volume of duty-exempt trade between Ukraine and the United States under the Generalized System of Preferences established by the US government to provide special trading opportunities to beneficiary states, including Ukraine, will amount to $ 200 million, said Abromavicius at a government briefing.
The press service of the Ministry of Economic Development reported that the program will cover the most common industrial goods - chemicals, minerals and building stone, jewelry, various types of rugs and carpets, agricultural and fishing products, quoting Natalia Mykilska, Deputy Minister of Economic Development , Ukraine’s trade representative.
At the same time, the program requires Ukraine to meet a number of conditions, such as effective protection of intellectual property and labor rights, as well as compliance with the regulations on indication of the products’ origin.
According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine’s foreign trade surplus in January-April 2015 was $ 597.5 million, which is 2.8 times more than in the same period of 2014 with $ 215.7 million.
Ukraine performed foreign trade operations in January-April with partners from 203 countries. The European Union is now Ukraine’s main foreign trade partner.
Exports of goods to the EU countries in January-April 2015 compared with January-April 2014 were down by 34.4%, amounting to $ 4.258 billion, which is 34.1% of total exports.
GSP-eligible for All Beneficiary Countries (2012) from tsnua