Free trade agreement between Turkey and Ukraine comes into force

The Free Trade Agreement signed between Turkey and Ukraine Feb. 3 has come into force with a presidential decree published in Turkey’s official gazette Aug. 2.

According to the Turkish Trade Ministry’s official fact sheet on the agreement, some customs duties imposed on Turkish goods by Ukraine will now be removed, while other customs duties would be removed following a transition period.

Turkey will also remove customs duties on imports of Ukraine-origin agricultural and industrial products.

“It has been decided to apply tax reductions and tax reductions within the scope of quotas for some agricultural and iron and steel products that are sensitive for our country, and some products have been excluded from the scope of the agreement, taking into account sectoral sensitivities,” the Turkish Trade Ministry said.

More details are expected from the ministry in the coming days.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy previously said Turkey would set a zero import duty on 510 of 840 metallurgical products with the free trade agreement. Import duties at lowered rates would also apply to another 130 products.

To facilitate development of the domestic metallurgical sector, Ukraine, however, reserved the right to charge customs duty on scrap metals exports, the Ukrainian ministry noted.

Turkey’s finished and semi-finished steel and ferrous scrap imports all declined substantially following the start of the Ukraine-Russia war.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap 1/2 (80:20) at $386/mt CFR Aug. 1, down $2/mt on the day.

Cenk Can