YEREVAN. – Armenia should attempt to receive preferential customs tariffs from the Customs Union (CU).

Chairman Gagik Makaryan of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia noted the aforementioned during a press conference on Monday.

In his words, this may be the first substantial gain from Armenia’s accession to the CU.   

“Three types of customs duties are imposed in the Customs Union. The basic customs duty for friend countries, the double customs duty [for] non-friend countries, and the third is the preferential customs duty which comprises 75 percent of the basic customs duty; it is imposed for developing countries. Armenia should try to be included in this very category,” Makaryan explained.    

He added that the situation may be useful for Armenia in the next three to four years. But in the long-term, as per the expert, the old business practices and the low demand in quality standards will not be beneficial for Armenia’s industry.       

In his view, Armenia needs to cooperate with the Customs Union, but it should continue looking in the European direction, too.   

“We need to adopt European standards of quality, so that our producers would not lose the European market,” Gagik Makaryan concluded.  

To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.   

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am