Georgia

International agreements

Georgia is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) Partnership for Peace Program and is actively working to join NATO and the European Union (EU). Georgia is also a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Union of Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova (GUUAM), and an observer in the Council of Europe.

Georgia was formerly a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Because of the August 2008 conflict with Russia, Georgia formally notified the CIS on 18 August 2008 of its intention to withdraw from the organisation, and that withdrawal came into effect on 18 August 2009. However, Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it will uphold all trade and treaty agreements made between Georgia and fellow CIS countries.

Georgia has a free-trade regime with members of the CIS, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Turkey. This results in duty-free trade of goods and services.

On 18 December 2002, the GUUAM free-trade agreement was ratified by the Georgian Parliament, the goal of which is to create favourable trade conditions and to strengthen economic links among the member countries. The agreement to form a free-trade zone was reached at the GUUAM Presidents’ Summit in July 2003 in Yalta. Uzbekistan has since left the free-trade zone.

In June 2014, the European Union and Georgia signed an unprecedented Association Agreement. This Agreement aims to deepen political and economic relations between Georgia and the European Union and to gradually integrate Georgia into the European Union.

In July 2015, an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) was signed by and between Georgia and the United States about tax reporting and withholding procedures associated with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As a result, Georgia joined a list of countries that provide financial information to its partner country, the United States, for the deterrence of facts of tax evasion by its citizens.

In September 2022, Georgia joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on the automatic exchange of financial account information under the common reporting standards (CRS). Relevant legislative changes entered into effect from 1 January 2023.