DCFTA implementation on track, but major challenges ahead
The EU-Georgia deep and comprehensive free trade area (“DCFTA”) had been provisionally applied since September 2014, while its formal entry into force occurred in June 2016. After three years, we assess the implementation of the DCFTA by Georgia. More precisely, we review seven fields: market access, industrial product safety, food safety, customs, public procurement, protection of intellectual property rights and competition policy.
Overall, Georgia is on schedule in the DCFTA implementation. Market access has been liberalised immediately after the launch of the provisional application of the DCFTA. Georgia was admitted to the Pan-Euro-Med Convention of the Rules of Origin and negotiated several new Free Trade Agreements, the path to which was opened after the DCFTA launch. However, major challenges lie ahead. Most demanding will be the area of food safety, in which Georgia committed to harmonise with 272 EU directives and regulations within the next ten years.
