EU Council puts trade preferences for Armenia to final approval: the full product list, eight quotas, the conditions and Hungary’s objections

The General Secretariat of the Council of the EU issued an ‘I/A’ item note on 18 September 2026 (document 13136/26 ADD 1). It formally invites the Permanent Representatives Committee of the EU member states (Coreper) and the Council itself to finally adopt the legislative act on trade preferences for Armenia at first reading.

The official draft EU regulation states that the trade restrictions introduced by Russia from May 2026 have adversely affected Armenia’s export capacity and create a risk of seriously undermining its economic resilience and social stability. On that basis, Coreper and the Council are invited to apply the derogation provided for in the rules from the eight-week period which the EU regulation allows for the scrutiny of documents by the national parliaments of the member states.

The chronology of the document’s progress through the EU institutions, based on the official package of documents, is as follows:

2 September 2026: the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) agreed the initial compromise and sent a letter to the European Parliament undertaking to approve its position if it passed without amendments.

15 September 2026: the European Parliament, at its plenary session in Strasbourg, formally approved the legislative resolution at first reading (document P10 TA(2026)0282). The rapporteur, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, took over the Commission’s proposal in full. The text set out the removal of ad valorem duties for two years for a defined product nomenclature of Armenian exports, on fresh fruit and vegetables.

16 September 2026: the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU issued an information note (document 12916/26 POLCOM 304) formally confirming the outcome of the MEPs’ vote and the Council’s readiness to close the reading.

18 September 2026: the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU put to Coreper and the Council a proposal to finally adopt the legislative act and at the same time apply the derogation provided for in the rules from the eight-week period.

Tariff quotas

Products to be exempted from ad valorem import duties within tariff quotas.

Source: Annex II to the draft Regulation, document P10_TA(2026)0282. In the year of entry into force, the tariff quota period starts on the date of entry into force and ends on 31 December of the same year.

Hungary submitted a statement which was entered in the Council minutes. In its statement of 18 September, Budapest expressed regret that the Commission had submitted the proposal urgently, without a prior risk analysis or an assessment of the impact on European farmers. The Hungarian side stressed that opening the EU market to Armenian apples, tomatoes and processed cucumbers affects sensitive sectors of its national economy, and stated the importance of establishing a regular mechanism for monitoring trade in sensitive products.

The Regulation will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The proposed EU regulation (procedure 2026/0189(COD)) is not an unconditional economic preference and imposes strict reciprocal obligations on Armenia, non-compliance with which may entail the full or partial temporary suspension of the preferences by the European Commission.

Customs control and countering re-export: under Article 2 of the legislative resolution, the granting of the preferences is strictly conditional on compliance with the rules of origin in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation 2015/2446 and Commission Implementing Regulation 2015/2447. Armenia is obliged to maintain close administrative cooperation with the EU customs authorities, including the verification of evidence of origin, in order to prevent the risk of fraud. To confirm the origin of goods, provision is made in particular for an invoice declaration to be made out by an Armenian exporter registered in the REX (Registered Exporter) system.

Prohibition on counter-duties: Armenia is strictly prohibited from introducing new duties, charges, quantitative restrictions or any discriminatory internal administrative measures in respect of imports arriving from the European Union.

Political trigger: the trade concessions are also conditional on Armenia’s respect for democratic principles, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as on the obligations to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction provided for in Articles 2 and 9 of the Partnership Agreement, non-compliance with which may entail the full or partial temporary suspension of the preferences by the European Commission.

Emergency safeguard mechanism: Article 4 of the Regulation provides for a safeguard mechanism allowing the European Commission to assess the impact of imports where supplies of Armenian goods adversely affect the EU market or the market of one or more member states in respect of like or directly competing products. Where a member state submits a request, the Commission must consider whether the claim is substantiated within the period provided for in the Regulation. In critical circumstances, the Commission may impose provisional safeguard measures within 21 days of receiving a substantiated request from a member state; such measures may not remain in force for more than 120 days.

In the first half of 2026, exports to the EU grew 80.2 percent to $516.5 million, and imports from the EU rose 28.4 percent to $1,293.3 million. Exports to the EAEU fell 4.2 percent to $1 billion 324.5 million, and imports declined 27.9 percent to $1 billion 491 million.

Products to be exempted from ad valorem import duties without tariff quotas

Source: Annex I to the draft Regulation, document P10_TA(2026)0282. Descriptions are given in the official EU English text — tariff preferences are determined by the CN codes, the description being indicative. An entry reading “Chapter NN” means the preference covers the entire chapter of the nomenclature. The Annex contains 372 entries in total.