Statistics suggest that some 56% of Iran’s total exports with the Eurasian Economic Union in 2020 have been made through the General System of Preferences (GSP).
Iran exported some $1.041 billion worth of commodities to EAEU in 2020, with $584 million of which being traded through GSP.
Iran’s total exports to EAEU stood at $535 million in 2016 while some $191 million of the exports were made through GSP accounting for 35% of the country’s total exports to the bloc in that year.
Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union have signed an agreement to gradually remove tariffs for trade of some 80% of commodities.
As the terms of the agreement are not fully implemented in the first years after signing the document, the two sides continue to trade using the discounts provided by preferential tariffs.
Speaking during a meeting on August 8, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) deputy for international affairs Mohammad Reza Karbasi referred to statistics released by Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Karbasi said that Iran’s total trade with the five EAEU member countries amounted to $3.4 billion during the last Iranian calendar year (ending in March) which shows a 3% decline compared with figures from the preceding year.
He said that Iran’s imports from EAEU member states during the mentioned time stood at $2.358 million, up 1% from the same period in the preceding year, while Iran’s exports to those countries showed a 3% decline year-on-year.
Karbasi said that the statistics put Iran’s preferential exports to the bloc in the one-year period at $573 million showing a 31% growth compared to the figures from the preceding year’s corresponding period.
Iran’s preferential imports from EAEU member countries also stood at $1.487 billion last year, Karbasi said, noting that the figure showed a 22% decrease in comparison with the preceding year.