BUCHAREST (Romania), December 24 (SeeNews) - The free trade area between the EU and Moldova will be expanded to include Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria starting January 1, a decision by the EU-Moldova Association Council published on Wednesday in the EU official journal showed.

As of next year, all economic agents from Moldova, including the Transnistrian ones, will export goods to the EU under the same regime of free trade, according to the decision taken by the EU-Moldova Association Council, which is part of the Council of the European Union.

The document envisages cooperation between the countries to reduce trade barriers, mainly import quotas and tariffs and to increase trade of goods and services with each other.

Chisinau authorities will also provide necessary information for all economic agents in Transnistria to help them obtain the permissions to export goods in the EU. Transnistria has also committed to ensure increased access  for goods and services coming from the EU and to make a series of adjustments on its trade and taxation framework.

The trade related aspects will be assessed once a year and ten months after the decision was initially taken.

With a population of 505,153, Transnistria is a partially recognised state located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine.

Most of its exports go to Russia, but also to Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova, which Transnistria considers as a foreign country, data from Transnistria's official site shows.