Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area

The Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Zone Agreement, proposed since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, was signed on 18 October 2011 by Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova and Armenia.[1] The agreement replaces existing bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements between the countries. Initially, the treaty was only ratified by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine,[2][3] however by the end of 2012, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Moldova had also completed ratification.[4][5] In December 2013, Uzbekistan signed and then ratified the treaty,[6][7] while the remaining two signatories, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, later both ratified the treaty in January 2014 and December 2015 respectively.[8][9] Azerbaijan is the only full CIS member state not to participate in the free trade area.

From 1 January 2016, Ukraine and the European Union started provisionally applying a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union held consultations on 22 December 2015 to discuss the implications of the agreement concerning the possible duty-free transit of EU goods into the EEU via Ukraine. The states agreed to implement a provisional scheme later in 2016 that would impose customs checks on goods entering the EEU from Ukraine; and long term, to establish a common information system to control all imports into the EEU's customs area.[10] Nonetheless, Russia signed a decree in mid-December 2015 suspending its CIS Free Trade Agreement with respect to Ukraine from 1 January 2016.[11] In late December, the Ukrainian Government responded by passing trade restrictions on Russia, with effect from 2 January 2016.[12] Agreements between Ukraine and other EEU states within the free trade area remain in effect.

Euler diagram showing the relationships among various supranational organisations in the territory of the former Soviet Unionv • d • e

An overview of signatures and ratifications is shown below:

State	Signature	Entry into Force[13]	Comment
Armenia[14]	18 October 2011	17 October 2012	EAEU member
Belarus	18 October 2011	20 September 2012	EAEU member
Kazakhstan	18 October 2011	8 December 2012	EAEU member
Kyrgyzstan	18 October 2011	13 December 2013	EAEU member
Moldova	18 October 2011	9 December 2012	EAEU observer
Russia[note 1]	18 October 2011	20 September 2012	EAEU member
Tajikistan	18 October 2011	19 March 2016
Ukraine[note 2]	18 October 2011	20 September 2012	Former CIS participant
Uzbekistan	13 December 2013	12 January 2014

• Commonwealth of Independent States
• Economic integration
• Eurasian Union
• Free trade areas in Europe
• Post-Soviet states
• Trade bloc
• Rules of Origin
• Market access
• Free-trade area
• Tariff

• Text of agreement