Armenia To Lose Out Three-Fold On Customs Duties By Joining Customs

[Babajanian Karo]

ARMENIA TO LOSE OUT THREE-FOLD ON CUSTOMS DUTIES BY JOINING CUSTOMS UNION - FORMER PM

November 14, 2013 | 17:14

YEREVAN. - Former PM and opposition deputy Hrant Bagratyan said
Armenia will lose out three-fold on customs duties by joining the
Customs Union.

"If Armenia has decided to join the Customs Union, then it will have
to apply import duties three times higher than in Europe," Bagratyan
said during the Thursday debates on the 2014 draft budget.

Thus, according to the World Bank, the average import duty for
commodities in Russia in 2011 amounted to 6.97 percent in the EU only
1.24 percent. In Armenia, it was 3.48 percent in 2008 (the latest
available data). Thus, the tariffs on imported goods in Armenia and
therefore the prices will rise more than if Armenia joined a free
trade area with the EU (this does not apply to goods imported from
Customs Union member states).

"We do not see this in the draft budget. So, maybe it would be
appropriate to calculate the budget taking into account accession to
the Customs Union," Bagratyan concluded.

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