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Turkey, EU to ink deal to upgrade Customs Union agreement

Xinhua, May 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey and the European Union (EU) are about to seal a memorandum of understanding next week to set the framework for expanding the Customs Union agreement between the two trade partners, Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said Wednesday.

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and the EU commissioner will ink the document which will launch talks between Turkey and the EU on negotiations for upgrading the existing Customs Union agreement, the state-run Anatolia news agency quoted the minister as saying in Istanbul.

Turkey and the European Commission have been in talks for more than a year on the issue of upgrading the agreement, and negotiations with Brussels will start in January 2016.

A provision to be included in the upgraded Customs Union agreement will automatically make Turkey part of a free trade agreement which the EU will sign with a non-member third party, the minister said.

The existing Customs Union agreement between Turkey and the EU obliges Ankara to open its export market to non-EU states where the Union decides on free trade.

The Turkish government attempted to revise the Customs Union agreement over concerns about being left out of the "Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)" trade agreement currently being negotiated by the United States and the EU which would lead to the largest integrated market worldwide.

Turkey has complained of being left out of the decision making process related to the Customs Union, such as negotiations of free trade agreements by the EU with third parties. These states were able to export goods duty free to the country, but Turkey's exports to non-EU countries do not benefit from the same tariff reductions granted to the Union.

However, whether Turkey would be able to export goods to the third party has been left up to that country.

Ankara has been pursuing those states to sign bilateral agreements on free trade.

Turkey entered the EU Customs Union 20 years ago as an initial step in the process of becoming a member of the EU.

The accord abolished customs duties and prohibited quantitative restriction on industrial goods and processed agricultural products.

However, Turkey's EU membership negotiations are slow-paced. Endit