The Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union will increase the investment appeal and transit potential of Belarus, the review of Belarus’ foreign policy and the performance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2016 says.
According to the review, a new revision of the Eurasian Economic Union’s Customs Code was put together in 2016. The document takes into account all the progressive international practices and will allow substantially accelerating and simplifying export and import operations between commercial entities in the Eurasian Economic Union member states. It will also bolster the investment appeal and transit potential of the Republic of Belarus.
According to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belarus is in favor of enhancing the internal components of the Eurasian Economic Union as a top priority, including by enabling equal business terms for commercial entities, by removing barriers and restrictions in mutual trade, by stepping up manufacturing cooperation, and pouring more efforts into work in the area of power engineering. Another important accomplishment for the Belarusian side in 2016 was the approval of the concept to form common markets of oil and oil products in the Eurasian Economic Union. In line with the concept pricing principles will be applied in a uniform manner regardless of the national affiliation of commercial entities. Acting as the western border of the Eurasian Economic Union, Belarus has been advocating the formation of stable mechanisms for a dialogue and cooperation with the European Union. The Belarusian side believes that Eurasian integration should not be limited to the western direction only. It is also important to enable tight interaction with countries and economic unions in the east – China, countries in the Asian-Pacific region, including within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other regional associations. Dmitry Mironchik, Head of the Information Office, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there were no reasons for idle speculations in matters concerning the approval of the draft agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union’s Customs Code.
The official said: “A number of mass media failed to correctly report the news. Indeed, instead of the Customs Code the Belarusian side has signed the presidential decree on conducting negotiations on the draft agreement on the Customs Code and on signing the agreement. Such a decree represents a standard intrastate procedure in compliance with Belarusian laws and international agreements”.
In his words, the revision of the clause on conducting the negotiations is a standard legal formula.
“If you look at any similar decree on a draft international agreement, you will see it for yourselves. The formulas are absolutely the same”, Dmitry Mironchik remarked. “Even the fact that the text is accepted as the foundation for conducting negotiations is a standard international practice. As a rule, all the principal matters concerning a draft international agreement are agreed beforehand. But until the moment all the necessary signatures are made, the document can be revised. There are no reasons for speculations”. (BelTA/Business World Magazine)