MOSCOW: Member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are starting to ratify the agreement on the Customs Code, BelTA learned from the press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). The signing of the agreement on the EAEU Customs Code concluded on 11 April, the press service said. The member countries now proceed to the intrastate procedures leading up to the ratification of the document. The new Customs Code will come into effect after the Eurasian Economic Commission is notified the agreement has been ratified by all the five member countries. The EAEU Customs Code is one of the main documents of the union’s regulatory framework. The fact that the customs regulation is carried out in line with the EAEU Customs Code is stipulated by the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty. It will replace the existing Customs Code of the Customs Union and international agreements on customs regulation, which were concluded in the early stages of economic integration – the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space. The EAEU Customs Code will increase the level of unification and harmonization of the customs regulation in the Eurasian Economic Union. “Now many processes will be automated,” Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan said.
“Communication between businessmen and customs officers will be minimized. Representatives of our private sector have been looking forward to this document. We are expecting a significant improvement of the business climate in the EAEU after the Customs Code enters into force.” The document enshrines in law the transition of the customs administration system of foreign trade in the EAEU from hardcopies to electronic technologies. This approach will save business resources, speed up customs formalities and almost completely offset the human factor during the decision making at all stages from the registration of declarations to the release of goods. The work on the new code took three years. “The EAEU Customs Code is the first agreement in the EAEU’s regulatory framework . Through all the stages it was developed together with the commission, government bodies and business communities of all the five member countries,” representatives of the EEC said. “In the past the private sector was allowed to contribute to such documents only during the intrastate harmonization stage.”
