For more information on trade and investment in Laos, see: The EU is working closely with Laos under the EU-ASEAN cooperation agreement to ensure an efficient environment for trade and investment relations. These bilateral trade and investment agreements were designed as building blocks for a future agreement between the regions. Laos has been a member of the WTO since 2013 and, as the least developed country, benefits from the EU`s “Everything but Arms” regime, which grants duty-free and quota-free access to all exports, except arms and ammunition to the EU. Laos has also signed trade agreements with the other nine ASEAN members and, as a member of ASEAN, is conducting a series of negotiations. Laos and the United States signed a framework agreement on trade and investment in 2016. Laos has also signed various bilateral agreements with Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, North Korea, Mongolia, Malaysia, Russia, India, Belarus, Argentina, Kuwait and Turkey. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement, signed on 15 November, will boost foreign investment in low-wage and lower-skilled ASEAN countries. The United States is working closely with Laos to implement the terms of the 2005 Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), normalize trade relations between the two countries and support its membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It describes the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to which that country belongs, including with the United States.
Includes websites and other resources that allow U.S. companies to get more information about how they can use these agreements. Ensuring better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market is an EU priority. Negotiations for a trade and investment agreement between the region and ASEAN began in 2007 and were interrupted by mutual agreement in 2009 to relax a bilateral negotiating format. The EU GSP Regulation allows vulnerable developing countries to pay less or no tariffs on exports to the EU, allowing them vital access to the EU market and contributing to their growth. The EBA regime is an arm of the GSP that allows UN-defined countries of the world to enter the EU duty- and quota-free for all products (except arms and ammunition). Under the BTA, the United States has extended the status of Normal Trade Relations (NTR) (formerly known as “preferred nation” or MFN) to Laos products. Laos has expressed its readiness to implement a number of reforms to its trade regime, including the most favoured domestic and national treatment of U.S.
products, regulatory transparency, the introduction of an intellectual property protection regime, and the implementation of WTO-compliant customs rules and procedures. You will find the full approval here. The EU is cooperating with ASEAN as a whole. Cooperation will be maintained through the EU-ASEAN dialogue, which includes discussions on trade and investment issues between ministers and senior economic officials. Laos joined the WTO in 2013 and continues to integrate with ASEAN neighbouring countries through the ASEAN Economic Community. The following countries have granted Laos Generalized Preference System (GSP) status: Australia, Belarus, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.