Wednesday, January 31 2024 16:44

ArmInfo.In reality, there are fewer obstacles to exporting Armenian products to the EU market  than is commonly assumed. A similar opinion was expressed in an interview by Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Rafayel Gevorgyan.

He tried to dispel the myth that European quality standards are  insurmountable for Armenian producers.  "If there is a desire to  export to Europe, all issues related to certification can be resolved  in Armenia, even within the existing infrastructure in our country,"  said the deputy minister. At the same time, he attached importance to  the ongoing work on mutual recognition of quality certificates  between Armenia and the EU.  In this regard, he recalled the results  of the meeting of the Armenia-EU Trade Committee, during which a  desire for mutual recognition of certificates for a number of goods  was expressed. "So that certificates issued by the State Food Safety  Service or another inspection body are accepted in EU without the  need for additional tests," Gevorgyan said.

The deputy head of the department noted that achieving mutual  recognition of certificates is a long process, involving regular  audits by European partners, studying our accreditation system,  various preventive measures, etc.

At the same time, Geforgyan noted that in certain areas, Armenian  manufacturers are ready for European quality standards. As an  example, he named the wine industry. "Our laboratories issue  certificates for wine in order to export it to Europe," said the  deputy minister.

Gevorgyan pointed out logistics costs as a real obstacle in the  context of exporting to the EU market, which makes exporting to  Europe impractical in many cases.

At the same time, drawing a parallel with neighboring Georgia, which  has a free trade agreement with the EU, the deputy minister noted  that, nevertheless, the neighboring countries are in the list of  TOP-5 export partners. "That is, the logistics connections that you  have in your region are more important," he noted.  Speaking about  the competitiveness of Armenian goods on the European market, he  noted that this can be judged by the volume of trade turnover. In  this regard, the deputy minister noted that the indicators are  certainly unsatisfactory, however, many Armenian manufacturers have  no problems entering the EU market.

A few days ago, the European Commission decided to allow the export  of composite products containing milk and/or eggs produced in Armenia  to the EU markets.

According to the Statistics Committee, Armenia's foreign trade  turnover with EU countries in January- November 2023 increased by  22.9%, exceeding $2.4 billion. At the same time, exports decreased by  5.5% to $677.9 million, while imports grew by 38.5% to $1.8 billion.  The share of EU countries in the list of Armenia's main trading  partners accounts for 13.9%, compared to 16.1% a year earlier for the  same period.