CEFTA

The CEFTA Trade Portal is a comprehensive online platform designed to facilitate trade and investment within the CEFTA region and with third countries.  

 

It offers a wealth of information and tools to help businesses, and the public at large navigate the complexities of international trade. From detailed market access information on tariffs, quotas, and rules of origin, to guidance on Customs procedures and documentation, the CEFTA Trade Portal provides essential support for businesses.  

 

Additionally, the CEFTA Trade Portal offers key information relevant for trade in services, investment, and procurement in the CEFTA Parties, and delivers up-to-date news and analysis on trade trends and policies. 

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a regional preferential trade agreement among a number of Parties, notably Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo1, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia (hereinafter referred to as the CEFTA Parties), which aims to promote trade and economic integration cooperation within the region and to attract investment. 

 

In 2006, the Parties concluded the Agreement on Amendment of and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement. Annex 1 to this Agreement provides the Consolidated Version of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (hereinafter referred to as CEFTA 2006). 

 

CEFTA pursues the alignment of the CEFTA Parties’ regulatory frameworks with EU and international standards, thereby creating a fair, stable, and predictable business environment. The CEFTA 2006 also addresses important issues like intellectual property rights, competition rules, and State aid. 

 

CEFTA Parties agreed a number of additional protocols, expanding their commitments, including to other areas. Most notably: 

 

CEFTA is governed by its Parties through the CEFTA Joint Committee, which is its highest decision-making body, and by the CEFTA Secretariat, which provides technical and administrative support to the CEFTA Parties and to the other CEFTA bodies in the development of their work and the implementation of the CEFTA Agreement with its related legal instruments. 

 

The CEFTA structure is detailed here, linking to more information regarding each CEFTA body. 

 

All CEFTA Joint Committee Decisions can be found online on CEFTA’s website, along with any other documents agreed by the CEFTA Parties or CEFTA bodies. 

In order to enhance transparency, CEFTA has introduced several online tools to enhance openness, facilitate trade, and streamline regulatory processes. 

  • The TBT Platform, which provides information on technical requirements across CEFTA; 
  • The SPS Database, which gives relevant information about sanitary and phytosanitary measures relevant for trade in food and agricultural products; 
  • The Market Access Barriers Database, a tool that helps to address non-tariff measures; 
  • The BTI Database, a platform that aggregates all the information related to the Advance rulings (tariff description and classification) from the CEFTA Customs administration; 
  • The Measures in Services platform, a functional exchange information platform at regional level, which increases transparency and ensures smooth supply of services across the region; 
  • The Database of Unsafe Products, a database that compiles data on unsafe products in CEFTA;  
  • The Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Database, a tool crucial in facilitating trade and reducing bureaucracy for traders within CEFTA; 
  • The Statistical Portal, which provides data on many aspects of trade; and
  • The CEFTA Green Corridors Statistics portal, which provides data on the number of trucks, declarations, and waiting times. 

CEFTA was initially established in 1992 by the VisegrádGroup countries, namely Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia, to facilitate economic integration and prepare for EU accession.  

 

As these countries joined the EU in May 2004, CEFTA was expanded to include a number of Southeast European partners. This expansion, formalised in December 2006 through the conclusion of the “Agreement on amendment of and accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement”, aimed to foster economic growth and stability in the region, particularly in the Western Balkans. 

 

To accommodate the new CEFTA Parties and their specific economic needs, the CEFTA Agreement was substantially revised. Key changes included: 

  • Enlarged membership: The agreement was extended to include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia; 
  • Deepened economic integration: The agreement aims to go beyond traditional free trade and foster deeper economic cooperation, including the harmonisation of regulations, technical standards, and customs procedures; and 
  • Alignment with EU standards:The agreement emphasises the importance of aligning CEFTA’s rules and regulations with EU standards to facilitate future integration with the EU. 

International trade in goods is regulated by various rules established under the World Trade Organization(WTO) for Members that have acceded to the WTO Agreement. The following CEFTA Parties are WTO Members: 

  • Albania; 
  • North Macedonia; 
  • Moldova; and 
  • Montenegro. 

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are “observer governments” at the WTO. WTO rules require observer governments to start accession negotiations within five years of becoming observers. More details are available at Members and Observers. 

 

In the preamble to the CEFTA 2006https://cefta.int/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ANN1CEFTA-2006-Final-Text.pdf, the CEFTA Parties agreed to conduct their trade relations in accordance with the rules and disciplines of the WTO whether or not they are WTO Members. 

 

WTO Members must comply with the fundamental principle of the most favoured nation (MFN) treatment. The MFN obligation requires that any favourable trading terms granted by a WTO Member to trading partner be extended to all other WTO Members. This means that, if one of the CEFTA Parties reduces tariffs or grants other trade advantages to a trading partner, it must do the same for all WTO Members. With respect to trade in goods, the MFN obligation is laid down in Article I:1 of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. 

 

Importantly, the GATT provides exceptions to the MFN obligation. Notably, Article XXIV of the GATT allows WTO Members to enter into trade arrangements establishing free-trade areas, in which the participating WTO Membersremove barriers, such as customs duties, to trade amongst themselves, but maintain their individual barriers vis-à-vis all other WTO Members. Article XXIV:8(b) of the GATT defines a free-trade area as “a group of two or more customs territories in which the duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce [...] are eliminated on substantially all the trade between the constituent territories in products originating in such territories”.  

 

Free trade areas serve various economic and political objectives, such as: 

  • To increase freedom of trade among the economies involved by eliminating or reducing trade barriers, thereby: 
    • Opening new markets for goods and services; 
    • Increasing investment opportunities and protection of investments; 
    • Making trade cheaper by eliminating customs duties and cutting red tape; 
    • Making trade faster by facilitating transit through customs and setting common rules; and 
  • To promote closer integration between the participating economies. 

The objectives and commitments mutually agreed to by the participating parties are set out in a free trade agreement (FTA). 

The CEFTA 2006 is a preferential trade agreement signed on 19 December 2006 in Bucharest, Romania. Its implementation began on: 

  • 26 July 2007 for Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova and Kosovo*; 
  • 24 October 2007 for Serbia; and 
  • 22 November 2007 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

 

The CEFTA Parties committed to establishing a regional economic area with the objective to decrease the costs of trade and production by eliminating market access barriers. Pursuant to Articles 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the CEFTA 2006, trade in goods between the CEFTA Parties must be free from: 

  • Quantitative restrictions on imports and exports and measures having equivalent effect (Article 3 of the CEFTA 2006); 
  • Customs duties on exports, charges having equivalent effect, and import or export duties of a fiscal nature (Article 4 of the CEFTA 2006);  
  • Any new Customs duties on imports, charges having equivalent effect, and import or import duties of a fiscal nature. CEFTA Parties also committed not to increase the Customs duties already applied as from the day preceding the signing of the CEFTA 2006 Agreement (Article 5 of the CEFTA 2006); and 
  • Customs fees in excess of the approximate cost of services rendered (Article 6 of the CEFTA 2006).  

Under the CEFTA 2006https://cefta.int/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ANN1CEFTA-2006-Final-Text.pdf, the CEFTA Parties agreed: 

  • Under Article 8, to abolish all Customs duties on imports, all charges having equivalent effect, and all import duties of a fiscal nature with respect to trade in industrial products contained in CN Chapters 25 to 97 traded between the CEFTA Parties; 
  • Under Article 10(1), to reduce or abolish Customs duties on imports, all charges having equivalent effect, and other import duties of a fiscal nature on agricultural products listed in Annex 3 to the CEFTA 2006;  
  • Under 10(2), to apply the MFN duty on imports of agricultural products listed in Annex 3 to the CEFTA 2006, when the MFN duty is lower than the preferential Customs duties specified in that Annex; and 
  • Under Article 10(3), to examine within the CEFTA Joint Committee the possibilities of granting to each other further concessions no later than 1 May 2009 and the CEFTA Parties adopted the Additional Protocols 1 to 4, further liberalising trade in agricultural products. On the basis of the Additional Protocol 4, agreed in 2015, CEFTA Parties committed to “abolish all customs duties on imports, all charges having equivalent effect, and all import duties of a fiscal nature in trade of agricultural products between them”. 

CEFTA Parties shall provide information on the preferential trade agreements that they are parties to. See Annex 1 for the specific information to be provided.