Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law on the ratification of a free trade agreement with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Law No. 5193-VI on the ratification of a free trade area agreement was signed on Thursday.

The presidential press service reported that the main benefits of the FTA agreement were the obligations not to increase excise rates for goods that are in the exemption from a free trade regime, the obligations of the CIS member states not to use new restrictions in mutual trade, set timeframes for the cancellation of exemptions on imports, the provision on the launch of the process on the elimination of export duties, a reduction in the number of existing agreements that should be guided by in trade and economic relations with CIS countries, and the settlement of trade disputes in line with mechanisms and procedures adopted by the World Trade Organization.

As UKRINFORM reported, the Ukrainian parliament ratified the agreement on free trade with the CIS on July 30.

The FTA agreement was signed on October 18, 2011 in St. Petersburg (Russia).

Ukrinform