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2.36. Georgia became a contracting party to the Energy Community Treaty on 1 July 2017. The Energy Community was created in 2005 to extend the EU internal market energy rules to South East Europe and the Black Sea to create an integrated energy (electricity and gas) market. By adopting the Energy Community Treaty, the Contracting Parties made legally binding commitments to adopt core European Union (EU) energy legislation [56] (Section 4.2.2).
[56] The key objectives of the Energy Community are to: (...) improve the environmental situation in relation with energy supply in the region and foster the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency (...)

3.55. Regulations on import prohibitions are scattered across various legal instruments dealing with, inter alia, waste, air protection, nuclear and radiation safety, hazardous chemicals, pesticides, and drugs. The list of import prohibitions comprises seven types of products, all of which are implemented based on health considerations (Table 3.5). The prohibitions are administered by three different institutions – the Revenue Service, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, and the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs. (...)

3.56. Of the seven types of products subject to an import prohibition, ozone-depleting substances, hazardous chemicals and pesticides, and narcotic drugs are also subject to an export prohibition (Section 3.2.3).

3.57. Georgia restricts the imports of a selected number of products through a system of (non automatic) licences and permits based on health, security, and environmental considerations. (...)

3.58. (...) In 2019, Georgia imposed a licence requirement to import (as well as to produce and export) electronic communications interception systems for security reasons, and in 2017, it introduced an import licence for hazardous waste and removed the import licence for materials of limited circulation. [66] These changes have not been yet notified to the WTO Secretariat.
[66] Resolution No. 4954 of 26 April 2016 on the Amendments to Law on Licence and Permit Fees. The change became effective in July 2016. The authorities further indicate that the import licence for hazardous waste was introduced in accordance with the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (Basel Convention).

3.59. Other product categories included in this list are non hazardous waste, radioactive and nuclear materials, pharmaceuticals products subject to special control, non-iodized salt, and dual use goods. (Table A3.4). Most of the product categories subject to an import licence/permit are also subject to an export licence/permit (Section 3.2.3).

3.63. Finally, Georgia maintains quotas for imports of ozone-depleting substances that are allocated according to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. [71]
[71] Law on Atmospheric Air Protection, Article 381; and Resolution No. 266 of 17 June 2016 on Issuance of Permits for Import, Export, Re-export and Transit of Ozone Depleting Substances and on the Approval of the Technical Regulation on the Distribution of the Annual Import Quota. The last order by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture approving the quota was Order No. 2-1172 of 16 December 2020 on Approval of the 2021 Annual Import Quota of Ozone Depleting Substances. This measure has been notified to the WTO (WTO document G/MA/QR/N/GEO/2, 10 February 2020).

3.79. Georgia continues to prohibit and impose permit (or licence) requirements to certain exports mainly for health, security, and environmental reasons in accordance with international standards. The lists of prohibited and restricted goods have remained largely unchanged since the last Review, except for a few additions made in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

3.81. The list of (export) prohibitions comprises six product categories, including certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides, and narcotic drugs.

3.82. (...) In 2016, Georgia amended the list and added hazardous waste to the products subject to an export licence or permit in accordance with the Basel Convention, while removing the permit for materials of limited circulation, which had broader coverage. (...)