YEREVAN, June 14 The Armenian government approved the ratification of the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran at a meeting on Friday.
«» Approve the ratification of the free trade agreement signed on December 25, 2023 in St. Petersburg between the Eurasian Economic Union and its member states, on the one hand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other hand. Send the document to the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of its provisions constitution of Armenia and, in case of a positive conclusion, submit it to the National Assembly (parliament — ed.) for ratification,” says the resolution, the draft of which was presented by Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan. 
< br />Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ratifying the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran on June 12. Its goal is to liberalize and simplify trade between the EAEU countries and Iran by reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers and supporting economic and trade interaction.
As Deputy Head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Vladimir Ilyichev said, the agreement will contribute to the further increase in mutual trade: thus, by 2025 an increase of $1.1 billion is expected. The ministry also believes that these agreements will help in the implementation of projects for the development of the North-South transport corridor. The implementation of the agreement, according to him, will not entail additional expenses from the federal budget. At the same time, the volume of tariff preferences provided to Iran will amount to about $50 million — they will be compensated by additional revenues from VAT, the ministry estimates.
The agreement forms the basic rules of trade between its parties, as close as possible to the rules of the WTO. These are, for example, most favored nation and national treatment, the use of protective measures and customs administration, and the rejection of quantitative bans and restrictions on the import of goods. It also contains provisions establishing basic WTO standards in terms of veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical regulation.
In addition to the standard WTO rules, the agreement also provides for obligations that go beyond them, but are still applicable in the EAEU. Thus, in terms of technical regulation, obligations are fixed to ensure a 180-day transition period between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force. This increases the transparency of Iran’s trade regime and aligns the regulatory environment with the EAEU, which already operates according to this principle. 
The agreement establishes a preferential trade regime for about 87% of the product range of foreign economic activity. Its implementation will allow Russian exporters to save about $300 million annually on duties. The document provides for the establishment of cooperation in the areas of extraction, processing and use of minerals, energy efficiency, research and innovation, education, medicine, transport, including the development of multimodal (combined) transport, telecommunications, transport and logistics infrastructure and transport corridors.
The Agreement will enter into force 60 days from the date of receipt of the last written notification that the EAEU countries and Iran have completed all internal legal procedures necessary for this. It will replace the temporary agreement aimed at establishing a free trade area between the EAEU and Iran, which was signed on May 17, 2018 and came into force on October 27, 2019.