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EU-Georgia relations are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which entered into force in 1999 and aims to foster cooperation, not only in trade issues, but also in political, environmental and cultural areas.

Georgia qualifies for the enhanced preferences for good governance and sustainable development and, in order to continue benefiting from the system after January 2009, it ratified the two outstanding conventions listed in GSP regulations, namely the UN Convention on Anti-Corruption, and the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety.

Under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), signed between Georgia and the United States in June 2007, a joint US-Georgia Council on Trade and Investment will address a wide range of trade and investment issues including trade capacity building, intellectual property, labour, and environment.

Since its accession to the WTO (to mid 2009), Georgia has participated in numerous trade-related technical assistance (TA) activities organized both by the WTO and partner institutions covering, among others, trade and environment.

Georgia benefited from a number of TA activities on TRIPS, such as the workshop for Central and Eastern European and Central Asian and the Caucasus (CEECAC) countries which, in June 2008, covered topics as varied as public health, biotechnology, biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and geographical indications.

Georgia has benefited from TA delivered by organizations and bilateral donors on standards-related issues, such as an UNDP grant of US$400,000 intended to support Georgian exporters through improvement of quality control and certification systems, including the introduction of ISO standards to help Georgian exporters meet international quality requirements and environmental standards.

Export licensing restrictions are applied only for reasons of healthcare, environmental protection, national heritage, and security.

The new Law on licences and permits in June 2005 simplified Georgian import licensing system, with licensing limited to protecting public health, the environment, and national security.

Import prohibition are maintained on goods that pose a threat to health, safety and the environment, and in compliance with Georgia's obligations under certain international conventions such as the Montreal Protocol and CITES.

The Agricultural Development Strategy 2009-2011 identifies several priorities in the areas of food safety and quality, veterinary and plant protection, mechanization, upgrading of the processing industry, increasing soil productivity, and conservation and bio-farming.