Moscow, March 1 (Interfax) - The Commission of the Russian-Kazakh-Belarusian Customs Union has agreed upon the text of the Customs Code, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.
"We held the 14th session of the Customs Union Commission today to discuss the most complicated issues for which we have been preparing for several weeks, including the transferring of money the countries gain from levying import duties on their territories to their national bank accounts in a certain proportion. We have also finally agreed upon the text of the Customs Code and determined the way we should work to draw up agreements on setting up a common economic area," the Russian government press service quoted Shuvalov as saying following the session.
The signatories to the Customs Union determined basic principles on which money is to be transferred on foreign payments a year ago, Shuvalov said. "We made our calculations based on the exemptions that each country has, including up to 400 positions in Kazakhstan. Today we completed settling these principles, which are now stipulated by the Customs Union Commission’s decisions," he said.
The finance ministries have been tasked with making the final calculations in order "to determine the share, and this share will be stipulated by an international agreement to be submitted to the chiefs of state and government," he said.
The parties also agreed upon the procedure for transferring the money to the national bank accounts, Shuvalov said. "The national banks were involved in this work, and we believe this issue has been fully settled," he said.
The parties have also agreed on the work of expert groups drawing up international agreements on forming a common economic area, he said.
"This is a difficult and painstaking work. We should basically finish this work by the summer of 2010, as regards the conceptual basis of these agreements. The most important agreements should be adopted in 2010 and the rest in 2011. I would like to remind you that, in line with the instructions given by the presidents of the three countries, the common economic area should be set up by January 1, 2012," Shuvalov said.
