Your trusted source

On March 16, the Eurasian Economic Commission lifted customs duties on imports of medical supplies. The list was expanded under the April 3 amendments, Armenia Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan told a news conference on Monday.

“An importer needs to apply to the Ministry of Health and in case of receiving an approval, the goods are imported into Armenia with no customs duties. The list includes almost all medical equipment and raw materials needed to produce medication. September 30 has been set as the deadline, and the decision applies to the relations that have arisen since March 16,” the official said, presenting the current state of Armenia's foreign economic activity.

"By March 31 Decision No. 43 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, from April 1 to June 31, exports of some goods from the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union is banned. The ban applies to essential products,” the deputy minister said, adding that the restrictions are imposed on exports from EAEU, while the turnover between the countries of the economic union are allowed. "Exports of only humanitarian goods to a third country are not restricted," he said.

Touching upon the April 3 decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Varos Simonyan said that it refers to sensitive goods which have been exempted from customs duties for three months. "The decision has not been published yet. It will apply to the relations that have arisen since April 1 and will be in force until June 30. It refers to potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and other essential goods, the import of which into the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union will be carried out with zero customs duties, which is an additional incentive to promote imports from third countries at lower prices," the official stressed.

Simonyan also presented the export restrictions by the decision of Commandant Tigran Avinyan. "Decision No. 31 of April 3 limited the exports and imports of certain types of goods. At the moment, a restriction has been imposed only on the exports of medication and medical equipment, which can be carried out only by a permission of the Ministry of Health. That list features 64 lines. Apart from the list, there are no other restrictions,” he said.

Also, the deputy minister presented the procedure of the cargo transportation between Armenia and Iran. "Imports from Iran are carried out by overloading at the Meghri or Agarak customs checkpoints. If it is not possible to carry out the procedure, the product is transported to the respective place under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, Armenian Police and State Revenue Committee," he said.