Mauritius and Turkey will soon sign a Free Trade Agreement

Mauritius and Turkey will soon sign a Free Trade Agreement.

This will include a duty free quota on all industrial products, excluding 60 textile products where Turkey has agreed to progressively eliminate tariffs for four years.

It will also include duty free access on some 40 agricultural products, including fish, vegetables, sugar biscuits, food for animals and tropical fruits such as mangoes, pineapples and guavas.

Also, 20 per cent preferential access on canned food with unlimited access will form part of the economic agreement.

According to a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a fifth round of negotiation between Mauritius and Turkey established a free exchange agreement in January at Port Louis. The meeting was jointly chaired by Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative AP Neewoor and by European Union representative Murat Yapici.

Both parties have agreed that the existing potential for commerce between both countries has not been fully exploited and that the creation of a Free Trade Agreement will represent a better platform to enlarge and diversify bilateral commerce.

The importance of the Free Trade Agreement between Mauritius and Turkey is guided by political answers to the commercial regime of European Union.

On one hand, Turkey is linked by the custom agreement with EU and is obliged to align with the custom regime towards African Carribean Pacific (ACP) countries such as Mauritius.