The Finance Law adopted last December 10 by the Assembly of People’s Representatives and promulgated by the President of the Republic provides for exceptional tariff measures targeting a number of imported products from Turkey.
The article which provides for these specific measures was adopted with 136 votes. Exceptional tariff measures will be applied to several Turkish products on a period of three years starting January 1, 2024. They will be gradually waived in the two years that will follow their implementation.
The Ministry of Trade and Export Development and its Turkish counterpart signed last December 3 in Istanbul a decision by the Tunisian-Turkish Partnership Council which provides for reviewing the free trade agreement.
The agreement was inked by Minister Kalthoum Ben Rejeb and Turkish Trade Minister Ömer BOLAT. Three main measures were included in the accord in relation mainly to drawing up a list of agricultural and industrial products and the promotion of Turkish investments in Tunisia.
This
involves industrial products with like products made locally. Customs duties, 0% currently, will be raised to a rate ranging betweenn 27% and 37.5% (75% of duties applied under national law, that is standard tariffs under the most-favoured-nation clause).
For agricultural produce, the agreement provides for unilateral concessions to increase Tunisian exports to Turkey under annual duty-free quotas.
The third decision provides for more Turkish investments in Tunisia and the holding of a Tunisian-Turkish investment forum to help Turkish economic operators familiarise with investment opportunities and projects in Tunisia .
Tunisia’s trade deficit in the first ten months of 2023 amounted to TND 15, 856.6 million, including TND -2,807.7 million with Turkey. Tunisia’s imports from this country fell 23%, National Institute of Statistics figures in November 2023 show.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse