Free Trade Agreements and General Schemes of Preference

Georgia is the only country in the Caucasus region, which has free trade agreements with both the EU and China. Georgia is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2000.

Georgia has signed free trade agreements with the EU, with Commonwealth of Independent States countries that include Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Russian federation as well as its neighbors, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The strategically important Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement (DCFTA) was concluded with the EU in 2014.

Additionally on 27th of June 2016 Georgia signed FTA with with EFTA countries (with four members of the European Free Trade Association) giving Georgian products duty free access to markets of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

General Schemes of Preference for Georgia with the US, Canada, and Japan have also been applied for, with the result being lower tariffs on 3,400 goods exported from Georgia.

China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Georgia in May 2017. As a result of this agreement, Georgia became the 11thcountry which has concluded a free trade agreement with China.
The EU is Georgia’s second largest trading partner after the CIS. China is Georgia’s third largest trading partner after Russia and Turkey.

In terms of border control, all foreign travelers to Georgia enjoy highly accessible and service-oriented customs policies and administrative protocol. There is almost no custom duty, with 90 % of goods being exempt from import tariffs, with no quantitative restrictions. The average time for customs clearance is currently about 15 minutes, one of the fastest and most efficient in the CIS.