On July 1, 2024, the Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and China came into effect.
At the session held on October 20, 2023, the Government of the Republic of Serbia approved the Draft Law on Confirmation of the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the People's Republic of China.
The agreement was signed a few days earlier, on October 17, 2023.
The intention of the signatories of the Agreement is to deepen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as to further intensify and diversify their mutual trade based on the principles of equality, common interest and international law.
The goal of including the Free Trade Agreement with the People's Republic of China is to enable preferential access to the Chinese market for Serbian products, which, in addition to balancing the exchange of goods, i.e. reducing the existing foreign trade deficit and increasing the coverage of exports by imports, is expected to simultaneously expand investment and production capacities in Serbia, and strengthen the overall economic activities.
On the occasion of that event, a ceremony was held yesterday in Novi Sad for the entry into force of the Sino-Serbian Free Trade Agreement.
The ceremony of entry into force of the agreement was attended by Serbian Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade Tomislav Momirović, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Milan Čadež and other Chinese and Serbian officials and business representatives.
At the ceremony, Momirović said that the entry into force of the SST is of great importance for the economic development of Serbia and the development of the "iron friendship" between Serbia and China. Serbia is committed to the development of the "iron friendship" between Serbia and China. The entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement will not only expand bilateral trade, but also promote investment cooperation and industrial chain integration, better utilize the economic advantages of the two countries and jointly increase international competitiveness.
Li Ming said that the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement is the first free trade agreement signed and entered into force between China and a Central and Eastern European country. Less than a year and a half passed from the start of negotiations to the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Serbia, which makes it one of the fastest free trade agreements that China has signed. Such a high-quality and effective agreement fully reflects the high political mutual trust and "iron friendship" of the two sides.
After the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Serbia, China and Serbia will abolish customs duties on 90 percent of tariff items, of which more than 60 percent will be abolished immediately from the day of entry into force. The final import value of zero-tariff items will reach about 95% for both sides.
Application of the agreement in practice
The products covered by the new Customs Tariffs are categorized into five categories according to the degree of sensitivity, and depending on that, they will have different levels of tariff rate liberalization.
The following categories will be applied during the abolition of customs duties by Serbia:
- duties on goods originating from category "A0" in the List will be completely eliminated and such goods will be exempted from payment on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;
- customs duties on goods originating from category "A5" in the List will be abolished in five equal annual installments from the entry into force of the Agreement and such goods will be exempt from customs duties on January 1 of the fifth year;
- customs duties on goods originating from category "A10" in the List will be abolished in ten equal annual installments from the entry into force of the Agreement and such goods will be exempted from paying customs duties on January 1 of the tenth year;
- customs duties on goods originating from category "A15" in the List will be abolished in fifteen equal annual installments from the entry into force of the Agreement and such goods will be exempted from paying customs duties on January 1 of the fifteenth year;
- duties on goods originating from category "E" in the List will remain in force at the level of the base tariff.
| Category | Import to RS | Import to PRC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | 6272 | 60.24% | 5376 | 60.20% |
| A5 | 1709 | 16.41% | 1475 | 16.52% |
| A10 | 1025 | 9.84% | 882 | 9.88% |
| A15 | 402 | 3.86% | 355 | 3.98% |
| E | 1004 | 9.64% | 842 | 9.43% |
| total | 10412 | 100% | 8930 | 100% |
Representation of tariff tags by category
From the attached table, it can be seen that about 60% of the tariff labels when importing to Serbia and the People's Republic of China will be liberalized immediately, an additional 16% after five years, another 10% after ten years, and another 4% after fifteen years. while the most sensitive products, primarily agricultural products, will continue to be protected.
Overall, after the longest transition period of fifteen years, full liberalization (exemption from paying customs duties and other duties) will apply to products from about 90% of tariff codes.
You can view the full text of the Agreement on Free Trade between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the website of the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade "Law on Confirmation of the Agreement on Free Trade" .
For each product, the base duty to which gradual reductions are applied will be the duty applicable from January 1, 2022.
Custom tariffs overview
As of yesterday, the customs duties were included in the customs tariff under the code CN, which you can view on the website of the Customs of the Republic of Serbia.
Summary of customs duties for importing goods from China to the Republic of Serbia.
Summary of customs duties for importing goods from Serbia to the People's Republic of China.
You can see how it looks from the Chinese point of view on their official website: China-Serbia Free Trade Zone
If you want to import a product to Serbia from China, find your product in the tables on the link above and find out its customs duty.
However, we advise you that it is safest to contact a shipping company or Customs for accurate information.
Source of information: http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/predlozi_zakona/13_saziv/2025-23%20pdf..pdf, https://www.paragraf.rs/dnevne -vesti/241023/241023-vest8.html, https://must.gov.rs/tekst /sr/8535/tekst-sporazuma.php , https://serbian.cri.cn/2024/07/02/ARTIgZ93u11aEAG4z8y7Y262240702.shtml
