Georgia Free Trade Agreements for Businesses: Full Guide

You register a Georgian company, line up a buyer in the EU, and promise duty-free pricing. Then your shipment hits customs in Hamburg, the EUR.1 certificate gets rejected, and a tariff bill lands on the goods you sourced from China. The problem was never the company. It was the rules of origin. Georgia's free trade agreements are real, but duty-free access is earned per shipment. This guide maps each agreement, its origin rule, and the certificate you file.

Quick Summary:

• Georgia has free trade covering markets of roughly 2.2 billion people: the EU (DCFTA), CIS, Turkey, China, and EFTA, plus newer deals with the UAE and Hong Kong.

• Duty-free is not automatic. Your goods must meet each agreement's rules of origin to qualify.

• Exports to the EU, Turkey, and EFTA use the EUR.1 movement certificate, or a simple invoice declaration for consignments under EUR 6,000.

• CIS exports use the CT-1 certificate. Russia runs on separate bilateral rules, and Uzbekistan sits outside the standard CIS regime.

• GSP markets (Japan, and the US when its program is active) use Form A and are narrower than a full FTA - they can be changed or withdrawn.

• The Revenue Service (rs.ge) issues Georgian certificates of origin, and each one has a validity window you must ship inside.

Why Georgia's free trade network matters for your business

A company registered in Georgia can sell into markets that together hold around 2.2 billion people and roughly 40% of global GDP. That reach comes from a stack of agreements: the EU's DCFTA, the CIS free trade zone, Turkey, China, EFTA, and more recent deals with the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. Counting partner states and entities, that is well over 45 markets where your goods can move at preferential or zero tariffs.

Here is the distinction that decides whether you actually save money: market access depends on where your goods originate, not just where your company is registered. A Georgian LLC is the vehicle. The cargo still has to qualify as Georgian on its own merits.

That is exactly why we help clients structure trading companies properly from the start, rather than discovering origin problems after the first shipment. If you are still at the entity stage, this is where you register a Georgian company and set the foundation for clean exports.

Georgia's free trade agreements at a glance

The table below is the core of this guide. It maps each agreement to what it covers, the origin rule you have to satisfy, and the document you actually file to claim the preference. Read it once now, then come back to it when you have a specific shipment in front of you.

Two more deals sit outside that core list: the UAE comprehensive economic partnership agreement entered into force on 27 June 2024, and the Georgia-Hong Kong FTA was signed on 28 June 2018. Both expand the network further for goods trade.

Reading the table, three things stand out. First, most of Georgia's western-facing trade (EU, Turkey, EFTA) runs on the same EUR.1 mechanism and the same Pan-Euro-Med origin logic, so learning one teaches you three. Second, the CIS uses its own CT-1 paperwork. Third, GSP is the odd one out, and treating it like a full agreement is a common and expensive mistake. If your entity is not set up yet, we also handle remote company registration so you can get trading without flying in.

The EU DCFTA - your biggest market

The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area is the headline. The Association Agreement was signed on 27 June 2014, and the DCFTA entered into force on 1 September 2014, opening duty-free access for originating Georgian goods to all 27 EU member states - a market of roughly 450 million consumers. Beyond tariffs, it covers services and a long program of regulatory approximation, which is why it is "deep and comprehensive" rather than a plain tariff deal.

Origin under the DCFTA follows the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention. Your goods qualify if they are wholly obtained in Georgia or have undergone sufficient processing there. Get that wrong and the tariff preference disappears, regardless of what your company registration says.

The DCFTA remains in force. The European Parliament has called for a review of the agreement tied to political conditions, but a formal suspension would require unanimity among all 27 member states, so the trade preferences are operating normally for now. We keep an eye on this for clients and handle the accounting and compliance side so your export records hold up to scrutiny.

How to prove origin for the EU (EUR.1 vs invoice declaration)

This is the part almost every guide skips, and it is the part that actually matters at customs. There are two paths, and which one you use depends on the value of the consignment.

For a consignment valued under EUR 6,000, any exporter can self-declare origin directly on the commercial invoice. This is the invoice (or origin) declaration. No certificate, no application, just the correct wording on your paperwork.

For a consignment over EUR 6,000, you need a EUR.1 movement certificate issued by the Revenue Service, or you apply for Approved Exporter authorization, which lets you keep self-declaring on the invoice above the threshold. EUR.1 certificates for products such as wine and for goods made in Georgian free industrial zones are issued by the Revenue Service directly (rs.ge).

One operational detail people miss: a EUR.1 has a validity window, and your goods must reach the destination customs inside it. Under the traditional Pan-Euro-Med rules that window is four months, and the revised convention extended it for many flows, so always confirm the current period for your route before you ship rather than assuming the certificate is open-ended.

Trading with China under the FTA

The Georgia-China FTA was signed on 13 May 2017 and entered into force on 1 January 2018. It is one of the strongest deals in the network: China applies a zero tariff to about 94% of Georgian product lines, with most of that taking effect immediately and a smaller share phased in over five years. For a 1.4 billion-consumer market, that is a serious door to walk through.

The categories that benefit most are Georgia's export staples - wine, mineral water, honey, hazelnuts, tea, fruit and vegetables, and beverages such as beer and juices - many of which went to zero tariff with no transition period. If you produce or process any of these in Georgia, China is worth modeling early.

The catch is the same as everywhere else: goods must be Georgian-originating, either wholly obtained or sufficiently processed in Georgia. A product you simply import and repackage will not qualify. The certificate of origin for China is issued by the Revenue Service. To get paid cleanly on these exports, you will want to open a business bank account set up to receive international transfers.

The CIS free trade zone (and the Russia/Uzbekistan exceptions)

The CIS free trade zone gives Georgia duty-free goods trade with most post-Soviet states, and this is where competitors tend to get vague. Here is the precise version.

For most CIS partners - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine - you confirm preferential origin with the CT-1 certificate, issued under the CIS rules of origin adopted by the CIS Council decision of 30 November 2000.

Two members are handled differently. Russia trades with Georgia under separate bilateral rules of origin, not the standard CIS regime. Uzbekistan sits outside the standard CIS free trade regime with Georgia and applies an older, separate set of origin rules. Practically, that means you cannot assume the CT-1 process or the standard preference applies to those two markets - check the specific rule before you quote a price or print a certificate.

Turkey and EFTA - the Pan-Euro-Med bloc

Turkey and EFTA belong together because they run on the same machinery as the EU: the EUR.1 certificate and Pan-Euro-Med rules of origin. Learn the EU process and you have most of these covered.

The Georgia-Turkey FTA has been in force since 2008 and covers industrial goods, fish and marine products, and processed agriculture, with some concessions on farm goods. The EFTA agreement - covering Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland - was signed in 2016 and entered into force from 2017, giving duty-free access for industrial and fish or marine goods. Both use EUR.1 to prove origin.

One feature worth knowing is diagonal cumulation. Under the Pan-Euro-Med system, qualifying materials sourced from other partner countries in the zone can count toward your product's Georgian origin, which makes it easier to hit the threshold when you use regional inputs.

GSP preferences - useful but not a free trade agreement

GSP is the reality check. The Generalized System of Preferences is a unilateral favor that a developed country grants Georgia - it is not a reciprocal agreement, and that difference matters. Japan operates a GSP scheme that has historically covered Georgian goods, and the United States has run one too, so Form A is the document tied to these preferences rather than a EUR.1.

The catch with GSP is that the granting country controls it entirely. The US program is the clearest example: its GSP authorization lapsed at the end of 2020 and has not been renewed, so US customs has been charging normal tariffs on goods that would otherwise qualify. That is exactly why you never build a price around GSP without checking it is live for your destination on the day you ship.

The other practical points: GSP coverage is typically narrower than a full FTA, and you prove origin with Form A, issued for Georgian goods by the Revenue Service. Note that some markets that once gave Georgia GSP, such as Norway and Switzerland, were later superseded by the EFTA FTA, which is the stronger arrangement.

Before you build a sales plan around a GSP market, confirm two things: that the scheme is currently in force, and that your specific product is on the covered list. Treat the preference as a bonus you verify, never a guarantee you assume.

Rules of origin - the part that trips businesses up

This is the conceptual backbone, so here it is in plain language. Goods qualify as Georgian-originating in one of two ways.

Wholly obtained means grown, mined, caught, or produced entirely in Georgia. Georgian wine, honey, hazelnuts, and mineral water are textbook examples - there is no foreign input to worry about.

Sufficiently processed covers goods made with some imported materials, where enough transformation or value is added in Georgia. The test is usually a change in tariff heading or a value threshold set per product, so a real manufacturing step in Georgia is what gets you there.

Now the trap that burns dropshippers and resellers: importing finished Chinese goods and re-exporting them to the EU does not earn Georgian origin. Repackaging is not processing. The goods stay foreign for tariff purposes, the EUR.1 gets rejected, and the duty bill lands on you. Cumulation can help by letting qualifying partner-country inputs count toward origin, and goods manufactured inside a Georgian free industrial zone have their EUR.1 issued through the Revenue Service. A wrong assumption here costs real money, which is why it pays to get the entity and supply chain reviewed before you commit. If you are weighing how to set up, our guide to business structures in Georgia is a good companion read.

How to actually claim a preference - step by step

Here is the whole thing turned into a checklist you can run for any shipment.

1. Confirm your product's HS code and check that it meets the destination market's specific origin rule (wholly obtained or sufficiently processed).

2. Gather your proof of Georgian origin: production records, supplier declarations, and a value calculation showing the qualifying content.

3. Pick the right document - invoice declaration (EU, under EUR 6,000), EUR.1 (EU, Turkey, EFTA), CT-1 (CIS), Form A (GSP), or the China certificate of origin.

4. Apply to the Revenue Service, which accepts electronic submissions, or to the Chamber of Commerce where that route applies.

5. Ship inside the certificate's validity window and present the document at the destination customs.

Getting this right from day one is far cheaper than fixing it after a rejection. While you are mapping the numbers, our breakdown of VAT on exports covers how exported goods are treated for VAT, and our tax consulting team can pressure-test the structure before you sign anything.

Where this fits with the rest of your Georgia setup

Free trade access is one layer of a working trading business, not the whole stack. The agreements decide your tariff treatment, but you still need the right entity, a bank account that receives international payments, a tax setup that fits how you trade, and clean accounting to back up every origin claim.

Think of this guide as the export companion to the rest of your Georgia foundation. If you are still choosing a structure, start with small business registration to see whether a simpler form fits, and read our overview of taxes in Georgia so the trade benefits and the tax picture line up before you sign your first export contract.

Key Takeaways

• Confirm your product's origin status before you ever promise a buyer duty-free pricing.

• Match the destination to its certificate: EUR.1 for the EU, Turkey, and EFTA; CT-1 for the CIS; Form A for GSP; the dedicated certificate for China.

• Shipping under EUR 6,000 to the EU? Self-declare origin on the invoice - no EUR.1 needed.

• Exporting over EUR 6,000 regularly? Apply for Approved Exporter status so you can skip a EUR.1 per shipment.

• Do not assume re-exported imports qualify. They usually fail the rules of origin outright.

• Treat GSP as a bonus you confirm is live before you ship, not a guarantee you build around - the US program is lapsed right now.

• Get the company structured correctly before you start exporting, so the trade setup is right from day one.

FAQ

How many free trade agreements does Georgia have?

Georgia has free trade arrangements covering more than 45 markets when you count individual partner states and entities. The core agreements are the EU DCFTA, the CIS free trade zone, Turkey, China, and EFTA, with more recent deals covering the UAE and Hong Kong. On top of those, Georgia has access to unilateral GSP preferences. Together this reaches markets of roughly 2.2 billion people.

Does registering a Georgian company give me automatic duty-free exports?

No. Registering a company in Georgia gives you the legal vehicle to trade, but duty-free treatment depends on your goods meeting each agreement's rules of origin. The goods have to be wholly obtained or sufficiently processed in Georgia and be backed by the correct certificate. A Georgian company exporting goods that do not qualify will still face tariffs at the destination.

What is a EUR.1 certificate and who issues it in Georgia?

A EUR.1 is a movement certificate that proves your goods are originating, so they qualify for preferential tariffs under agreements like the EU DCFTA, Turkey, and EFTA. In Georgia it is issued by the Revenue Service, including EUR.1 certificates for wine and for goods produced in free industrial zones. You present it to the destination customs to claim the lower or zero tariff. It has a validity window, so you must ship within that period.

When can I use an invoice declaration instead of a EUR.1?

You can self-declare origin on the commercial invoice when the consignment is valued under EUR 6,000, with no certificate required from anyone. Above EUR 6,000, you generally need a EUR.1 instead, unless you hold Approved Exporter authorization. Approved Exporter status lets you keep declaring origin on the invoice even above the threshold, which saves time if you export regularly. For occasional or smaller shipments, the invoice declaration is the simplest route.

Which certificate do I use for the CIS, and why are Russia and Uzbekistan different?

For most CIS countries you use the CT-1 preferential certificate, issued under the CIS rules of origin adopted in November 2000. Russia is handled under separate bilateral rules of origin between Georgia and Russia, not the standard CIS regime. Uzbekistan sits outside the standard CIS free trade regime with Georgia and applies an older, separate set of origin rules. So before quoting a price into those two markets, confirm the specific rule that applies rather than assuming the standard CT-1 process.

Is there a free trade agreement between Georgia and China? What does it cover?

Yes. The Georgia-China FTA was signed on 13 May 2017 and entered into force on 1 January 2018. China applies a zero tariff to about 94% of Georgian product lines, with most taking effect immediately and the rest phased in over five years. Strong categories include wine, mineral water, honey, hazelnuts, tea, and various beverages. Your goods must be Georgian-originating, and the certificate of origin is issued by the Revenue Service.

What is Form A and which countries does it apply to?

Form A is the certificate of origin used under the Generalized System of Preferences, which is a unilateral tariff break a developed country grants Georgia rather than a reciprocal trade deal. Japan operates a GSP scheme, and the United States has run one as well. Because GSP is unilateral, the coverage is narrower than a full FTA and the granting country can change, suspend, or withdraw it, so confirm the scheme is currently active and your product is covered before relying on it.

Does Georgia have free trade with the United States?

Not a full free trade agreement. The United States has only ever offered Georgia preferences through the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which is unilateral and uses Form A on a limited product list. That program's authorization lapsed at the end of 2020 and has not been renewed, so US customs is currently charging standard tariffs even on goods that would otherwise qualify. If you export to the US, treat any GSP benefit as unavailable until Congress reauthorizes the program.

What are rules of origin in plain terms?

Rules of origin are the test that decides whether your goods count as "made in Georgia" for tariff purposes. Goods qualify either by being wholly obtained in Georgia - grown, mined, or fully produced there - or by being sufficiently processed, meaning enough value or transformation is added locally. Simply importing a finished product and re-exporting it does not pass the test. These rules are why preferential access is never automatic.

Is the EU DCFTA still in force?

Yes. The DCFTA entered into force on 1 September 2014 and remains in force. The European Parliament has called for a review of the agreement tied to political conditions, but suspending it would require unanimous agreement from all 27 EU member states, so the trade preferences continue to operate normally for now. Exporters should keep an eye on developments but can rely on the agreement as it stands.

How long is a Georgian certificate of origin valid?

The validity depends on the certificate and the agreement. A EUR.1 has traditionally been valid for four months under the Pan-Euro-Med rules, and the revised convention extended that window for many flows, so confirm the current period for your route. GSP Form A certificates generally run longer. Whatever the document, your goods must reach the destination customs while it is still valid, so plan your shipping timeline around it.