On the first day of 2018, a new edition of the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union comes into force. When developing it, experts took into account the presence in international activities electronic technologies, and also eliminated some administrative barriers, which will be appreciated by entrepreneurs. The document is intended to replace the Customs Code in force since mid-2010 Customs Union.

During development, the authors radically changed the structure of the new Customs Code. Old version The document consisted of two parts (general and special), with a total of 372 articles, 50 chapters and 8 sections. But many aspects of activity were regulated at the level of individual states, as well as international agreements, the provisions of which were often quite contradictory.

The new Customs Code consists of 9 sections, 61 chapters and 465 articles. It also includes transitional provisions that should be followed until additional decisions are made by the Eurasian Economic Commission. He is assigned a “centralizing” role, so most issues in the field of customs work will be resolved at the union rather than the national level.

On a note! According to experts, it will take at least six months for the document to become fully operational, so we can say that the changes will take effect in July 2018. This period will be needed to adopt regulations regarding the legislative description of automatic declaration procedures.

The document was developed over 3 years, and the work involved official representatives 5 countries: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia. For the first time, experts from the business community were involved in the development of the document. Despite the fact that entrepreneurs always strive for the maximum reduction of taxes, duties and bureaucratic procedures, the state still faces challenges related to filling the budget and ensuring security. Therefore, the new Customs Code sought to ensure an ideal balance between the interests of these parties and take into account the wishes of entrepreneurs who know firsthand about the problematic nuances of customs procedures.

What changes are coming at customs

The fundamental innovation of the code is the simplification and acceleration of customs procedures. What should facilitate the process of international trade:

• Now there will be no need to provide the customs inspector with the documents that were used to fill out the declaration. But they must be available in case the risk management system is triggered.
• By default, paper document flow is replaced by electronic declarations. The “paper” form of documents will be retained only for customs transit procedures, goods sent by international mail or intended for personal use, as well as for international transport vehicles.
• Due to the automation of registration processes, the time required to clear customs will be reduced: the new time for auto-registration of declarations will be no more than 1 hour from the moment of submission, whereas with the participation of customs inspectors, registration takes at least 2 hours. The time for releasing goods will be reduced to 4 hours, whereas today this norm is 6 times longer. It is also planned to introduce automatic release of those goods that pass the control of the risk management system without comments. All decisions will be made not by officials, but by an information and analytical system, which will reduce the likelihood of errors associated with the “human factor”.

• Entrepreneurs will no longer be able to provide regulatory authorities with information that can be “extracted” from the system. This will relieve them of the need to submit the same documents to representatives of customs, transport, veterinary and phytosanitary services, and regulatory authorities will be able to simultaneously carry out inspections.
• Before a decision is made on additional control, the declarant has the opportunity to change the declaration data (this applies to correcting formal errors, but not changing the goods themselves). This can be done until a request from the risk management system is issued to provide supporting documents, and the customs officer has not informed the declarant of the place and time of the inspection.

After the new Customs Code comes into force on January 1, 2018, regulatory authorities will certainly have to overcome various kinds of difficulties. In this regard, the Federal Customs Service plans to open hotline and organize working groups where people can turn to solve complex issues and clarify innovations.

Video on the new EAEU code from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation

Report of the Deputy Head of Yekaterinburg Customs Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zyabko at the seminar “Customs regulation of foreign trade activities in 2018: current issues", organized by the Alta-Soft company as part of the TransUral 2017 exhibition.

From January 1, 2018, the Customs Code of the Customs Union will be replaced by the Eurasian Economic Union. This is one of the few documents of the Eurasian Economic Union in the development of which the business community took an active part. Many constructive business proposals for improving certain standards that were regularly encountered in practice were taken into account. The document contains new approaches to informatization of customs operations and introduces a more business-friendly algorithm for interaction with government agencies.

Let's consider the main innovations that are of fundamental importance.

Regarding customs declaration And customs control . With the entry into force of the EAEU Labor Code, declarations will be carried out only in electronic form. There will remain exceptional cases when the declaration will be filed in in writing. It will be possible to submit a declaration in writing if it is impossible to use the electronic form due to technical problems at the customs authority. And such situations arise.

The next fundamental point. Current legislation provides for the need to provide a package of documents on the basis of which the declaration is drawn up. The new Customs Code directly establishes the opposite. That is, only a declaration for goods is submitted to the customs authority in in electronic format(I emphasize, a correctly filled out declaration form!) and nothing more. It is obvious that participants in foreign trade activities save effort and money on formalizing documents and placing them in the archive. On average, one import DT contains information about 20 documents, and an export one – up to 15. Naturally, such documents must be available to the declarant, and the customs authority has all the powers to require the presentation of these documents as part of the risk management system during the inspection of goods, as well as as part of control after the release of goods. The same applies to filing a transit declaration.

The list of information that must be contained in the goods declaration has expanded. According to the EAEU Labor Code, new mandatory information to be indicated in the goods declaration includes:

• trademark information;
• the name of the place of origin of the goods, which is an object of intellectual property;
• information about the seller and buyer of goods;
• about the price in accordance with commercial documents.

The procedure for filling out the DT will be established by the Decision of the EAEU Commission, instead of the current EEC Decision No. 257. It should appear before the end of this year.

As for the information indicated in the transit declaration, they will remain unchanged.

Another advantage of the new Code is the emphasis on modern information technologies, the movement towards expanding the possibilities of performing certain customs operations without the participation of customs officials. In 2016, Ekaterinburg customs automatically registered more than 20 thousand declarations, which amounted to 44% of total number export declarations, and in 2017 the percentage of auto registration reached 63%. The numbers for automatic issuance are still small - 107 declarations (of which 106 EC DT and 1 IM DT) this year, last year - 35. The average time for automatic registration is less than one minute. The average automatic release time is 5 minutes.

The new Code reduces the time frame for registration and issuance of diesel fuel. Currently, the deadline for registering a DT is 2 hours from the moment of submission customs declaration. From 01/01/2018 it will be reduced to 1 hour of working time. Today, the average time for registering declarations manually is 44 minutes. The release dates are now the same for all types of diesel fuel - there is no division into imported/exported goods, as in the current Customs Code of the Customs Union. The general release period is 4 hours from the moment of registration of the DT. This is if the customs authority has no doubts about the reliability of the declared information and the risk management system does not work. Moreover, if the DT was submitted less than 4 hours before the end of work of the customs authority, or the KDT was received from the declarant less than 4 hours before the end of the post, or the notification about the placement of goods in the Customs Control Committee was not received within these deadlines, the deadline for the release of goods is 4 hours from the start of work of the customs office on the next working day.

There are cases of extension of the deadline for issuing a declaration. The release period is extended to one working day following the day of registration of the DT, if:

• documents requested in the DT;
• the declarant applied for changes/additions of information in the DT;
• the declarant has not fulfilled the requirement of the customs authority to change/add information in the DT.

The release period may be extended up to 10 working days from the date of registration of the DT, for:

• completion of the application of customs control forms;
• fulfilling the requirements of the customs authority to adjust the DT;
• providing security for payment of payments.

A separate rule determines that the release period can be extended until the completion of the customs examination.

Today, at Ekaterinburg customs, the average release time for “risk-free” goods for import is 48 minutes, for export – 43 minutes. Regarding “risky” deliveries – 7 hours for import, 1 hour for export.

Concerning temporary storage. The temporary storage period is 4 months without the need for extension. The new code contains a rule on the need to place goods for temporary storage within 3 hours of working time in cases where:

• the declaration is withdrawn;
• the release date has been extended or suspended;
• refused release.

Failure to comply with this norm entails administrative liability.

The EAEU Customs Code introduces significant changes V procedure for paying customs duties. The Code appeared, which, along with customs payments, regulates the application of special, anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Currently, the procedure for introducing and applying special protective, anti-dumping and compensatory measures when importing goods is established by the Federal Law of December 8, 2003 “On special protective, anti-dumping and compensatory measures when importing goods.” The types of customs payments themselves remain the same. One of the conceptual changes is the possibility of using advance payments to pay all types of payments. That is, not only for paying customs duties, taxes and export customs duty, but also for the payment of import customs duties and special anti-dumping countervailing measures. This norm is intended to significantly simplify the administration of payers’ funds, reduce the number of electronic documents to be processed when maintaining cash records, and implement technology for automatically offsetting the amount of overpaid (collected) customs duties for advances.

The cases of calculation of customs duties and taxes by the customs authority are specified. By general rule, customs payments are calculated by the declarant. Customs authorities will have the right to calculate customs duties in the event that customs control reveals their incorrect calculation, in the event of illegal movement of goods, as well as in the occurrence of circumstances that in turn entail the onset of deadlines for payment of customs duties upon arrival of goods, departure, temporary storage, non-delivery of goods, placed under the customs procedure of customs transit, in case of loss of international postal items.

The documents for calculating customs payments are still the declaration of goods and the customs receipt order. In cases where there is no declaration for goods or CPO, such calculation will be carried out by the customs authority in a new customs document. This is the so-called calculation of customs duties and taxes, the form of which and the procedure for filling it out will be established by the Eurasian Economic Commission. A new “Fulfillment of the obligation to pay customs duties and taxes”, previously contained in Federal Law No. 311-FZ “On Customs Regulation”, has been included. At the same time, the TC TC did not directly mention the fulfillment of such an obligation. This article establishes new concepts such as:

• “subsidiary obligation” - the obligation to pay customs duties and taxes in addition to the liability of another person who is the main debtor;
• “notification of amounts of customs duties and taxes not paid on time”, the form, procedure and deadlines for execution of which are established by the legislation of the EAEU member states.

There are also cases when a notification is not sent to the debtor, in particular, the identification of facts of non-payment of customs duties in the amount of 5 euros. The legislation of the EAEU member states may establish other cases when notification is not sent.

In the new Code, cases of termination of the obligation to pay customs duties are specified in each of the customs procedures. The Customs Code of the Customs Union establishes that customs duties and taxes are not paid when importing goods to one recipient from one sender under one transport document, the total customs value of which does not exceed the equivalent of 200 euros. It should be noted that in the new Code there is a clarification that the obligation to pay import customs duties and taxes in respect of such goods does not arise only when they are placed under customs procedures for release for internal consumption of goods or temporary import.

The new international legal document expands the list of cases of termination of the obligation to pay customs duties and taxes. Included are cases of detention of goods, revocation of a customs declaration, placement of previously seized or seized goods into temporary storage or under a customs procedure, and placement of goods under a special procedure.

The EAEU Customs Code has developed new approaches to a number of issues related to the application of security for the fulfillment of the obligation to pay customs duties and taxes. It expands the circle of persons who have the right to ensure the fulfillment of the obligation to pay customs duties - if the customs representative bears a joint and several obligation with the payer to pay customs duties, then he also has the right to provide security. In particular, national legislation may expand the use of electronic security methods, completely eliminating in some cases paper document flow between the customs authority and the foreign trade participant.

Also, the EAEU Customs Code provides for the transition to electronic document flow of customs authorities and participants in foreign trade activities when issuing security certificates confirming the provision of security during customs transit. The priority is to issue security certificates in the form of an electronic document.

Regarding refunds (offsets) of funds, the novelty is the establishment of conditions for making changes (additions) in the prescribed manner to the information declared in the declaration for goods, or in the CPR or other customs document. Clear regulation of the actions taken by the payer prior to the return of overpaid customs duties will eliminate the ambiguity of the current customs legislation in terms of confirming the fact of the occurrence of excessive payment of customs duties. Now, after confirming the fact of excessive payment of customs duties and making appropriate changes to the declaration of goods, the return of funds to personal accounts will be carried out automatically, after which these cash will be considered advance payments. In order to return them to the organization’s current bank account, it will be enough to submit an application in electronic form without attaching supporting documents (since they were previously submitted to the customs authority when making a decision to classify payments as overcharged).

Relatively classification of goods. Conceptual changes affected the procedure for declaring unassembled or disassembled goods supplied in separate consignments (the so-called “components”). Currently, this procedure is regulated by the provisions of the Federal Law of November 27, 2010 No. 311-FZ “On Customs Regulation in the Russian Federation.” The key difference of the new procedure for declaring “components” is their declaration by submitting a declaration for each shipment. A final declaration for the entire “complete object” is not provided. At the same time, when customs declaring components of goods, measures of customs tariff regulation, rates of customs duties, taxes, benefits, prohibitions and restrictions, measures to protect the domestic market established in relation to goods in complete or completed form and valid on the day of registration by the customs authority of the declaration for goods in relation to the components of the goods. The declaration for goods in relation to the last component must be filed within a period not exceeding 2 years from the date of registration of the declaration for goods in relation to the first component of such goods (currently the deadline for filing the final declaration is 1 year).

Customs value control. The set of norms of the EAEU Customs Code fully ensures the possibility of monitoring the customs value of goods. Essentially unchanged current standards regulating the determination, declaration and control of the customs value of goods. The basic principles are the same for all areas. Compared to the Customs Code of the Customs Union, there is no concept of “declaration” of customs value; it is based on the concept of “declaration of goods”. The Code includes provisions dated January 25, 2008 “On determining the customs value of goods transported across the customs border of the Customs Union”, containing basic definitions, general provisions relating to customs value, as well as the procedure and conditions for applying methods for determining customs value. The Agreement itself will lose force after the EAEU Labor Code comes into force. Article 69 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union “Conducting additional inspection” was replaced by the provisions of the EAEU Labor Code “Verification of customs, other documents and (or) information begun before the release of goods.” Instead of provisions on adjusting customs value, the EAEU Customs Code establishes a procedure for preparing the following documents for amending the customs declaration in terms of changes in customs value:

• before the release of goods - requirements for making changes (additions) to the DT;
• after the release of goods - decisions to make changes (additions) to the DT.

The basis for customs value control is a risk management system. If no risks are identified, the goods are automatically released. If a risk is identified in which the actions of the customs authority to control customs value depend on the analysis of documents, such documents can be gradually provided by the declarant at the request of the customs authority. If a risk is identified, the 1st set of documents is requested (documents confirming the declared customs value from column 44 of the goods declaration). In case of failure to provide documents (the deadline for submission is 4 hours before the expiration of the goods release period), the release is refused; If documents are provided and there are no signs of unreliable customs value, the goods are released. If documents are provided and signs of unreliability of the customs value are revealed, or documents are submitted that do not confirm the declared information about the customs value, a 2nd set of documents is requested (an additional set of documents - in fact, an additional check is carried out) and the release of goods against the security of payment of customs duties. duties, taxes with sending the declarant a calculation of the amount of security. If additional documents are not submitted within the release deadlines and security for payment of customs duties and taxes is not provided, then the release of goods is refused.

Documents requested by the customs authority that were not submitted within the time limit for the release of goods, to complete the verification of customs and other documents, can be submitted by the declarant in the same way as under the current Code, after the release of goods within a period not exceeding 60 calendar days from the date of registration of the DT. Verification of the received documents must be completed by the customs authority within 30 calendar days from the date of their submission. If the submitted documents do not eliminate the grounds for checking customs and other documents, the customs authority has the right to once again request Required documents(3rd set of documents), the deadline for submission of which is 10 calendar days from the date of the request. At the time of requesting such documents, a suspension of the period is provided for 30 calendar days from the date of registration of the request and renewal - from the day the customs authority receives additional documents.

Today, the possibility of eliminating doubts that have arisen about the reliability of the customs value declared by the declarant is regulated by the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 12, 2016 “On some issues of the application of customs legislation by courts”; this position is normatively enshrined in the EAEU Customs Code. If the submitted documents or the results of customs control within the framework of such an inspection do not confirm compliance with the provisions of the EAEU Labor Code and other international treaties, and/or do not eliminate the grounds for the inspection, or the documents requested by the customs authority are not submitted within the established time frame, then the customs authority makes a decision to make changes (additions) to the information declared in the customs declaration.

Conceptual changes have occurred in the EAEU Labor Code regarding the basis for customs value adjustments: there is no emphasis on the reliability of documents and information related to determining the customs value of goods. According to the Customs Code of the Customs Union, the basis for adjusting the customs value is, both before and after the release of goods, a statement of false information about the customs value of goods, including an incorrectly chosen method for determining the customs value and (or) an incorrectly determined customs value, discovered by the customs authority or the declarant. According to the EAEU Customs Code, the grounds for making changes to the DT regarding information on customs value before release are: statement of undocumented information and failure by the documents provided to eliminate the basis for checking documents and information; after release - failure to submit any of the documents, information about which is indicated in the customs declaration, or the submitted documents do not confirm the information being verified.

The EAEU Customs Code has introduced the possibility of making preliminary decisions on the application of methods for determining the customs value of imported goods. At the same time, current legislation prohibits customs authorities from making preliminary decisions on customs value (Article 113 311-FZ). According to the EAEU Customs Code, preliminary decisions on the application of methods for determining the customs value of imported goods can be made if this is established by the national legislation of the Union member countries. According to the draft new federal law on customs regulation, the procedure for making and issuing preliminary decisions should be developed by the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

Eurasian Economic Union - international organization regional economic integration, which has international legal personality and established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. The EAEU ensures freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and work force, as well as the implementation of coordinated, coordinated or unified policies in sectors of the economy.

The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Russian Federation.

The EAEU was created for the purpose of comprehensive modernization, cooperation and increasing the competitiveness of national economies and creating conditions for sustainable development in the interests of improving the living standards of the population of the Member States.

Customs Union of the EAEU

The EAEU Customs Union is a form of trade and economic integration of the participating countries, providing for a single customs territory within which customs duties and economic restrictions are not applied in mutual trade in goods, with the exception of special protective, anti-dumping and countervailing measures. At the same time, member countries of the Customs Union apply uniform customs tariffs and other regulatory measures when trading with third countries.

The single customs territory of the Customs Union consists of the territories of the member countries of the Customs Union, as well as artificial islands, installations, structures and other objects over which the member states of the Customs Union have exclusive jurisdiction.

Member countries of the Customs Union:

• Kazakhstan - from July 1, 2010
• Russia - from July 1, 2010
• Belarus - since July 6, 2010
• Armenia - since October 10, 2014
• Kyrgyzstan - since May 8, 2015

Officials of the member states of the Customs Union have repeatedly stated that they view this organization as open to the entry of other countries. Negotiations are already underway with some countries to join the Customs Union, so it is likely that the territory of the Customs Union will soon be significantly expanded.

Technical regulation in the EAEU Customs Union

Technical regulation is one of the key elements of integration of the member states of the Customs Union.

The mechanisms contained in technical regulation make it possible to eliminate numerous, in many cases artificially created, technical barriers to trade, which are a serious problem for business. This is helped by the legal framework created over several recent years, including thanks to the efforts of specialists from the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Within the framework of the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Community, the following main international agreements have been adopted to date, designed to simplify the movement of goods on the territory of the participating states:

• Agreement on the implementation of a coordinated policy in the field of technical regulation, sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary measures;
• Agreement on common principles and rules of technical regulation;
• Agreement on the basis of harmonization of technical regulations;
• Agreement on the application of the Unified Mark of Product Circulation on the market of the EAEU Member States;
• Agreement on the creation of an EAEU information system in the field of technical regulation, sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary measures;
• Agreement on the circulation of products subject to mandatory assessment (confirmation) of conformity in the territory of the Customs Union;
• Agreement on mutual recognition of accreditation of certification bodies (conformity assessment) and testing laboratories(centers) performing work to confirm compliance.

You can obtain detailed information about technical regulation in the EAEU Customs Union from a special brochure prepared by specialists of the Eurasian Economic Commission:

Brochure of the Eurasian Economic Commission (PDF, 3.4 MB)

Member States of the Customs Union

The Customs Union (CU) is an official association based on the agreement of the participating countries on the abolition of customs borders between them, and accordingly the abolition of duties. Also, the basis for the functioning of the union is the use of a single tariff for all other states. As a result, the Customs Union has created a huge single customs territory, within which goods are moved without the expense of crossing customs borders.

Although the Customs Union was legally created in 2010, it actually began to work only on July 1, 2011, when acts on the creation of a single customs territory came into force in the participating countries, and all control and regulatory bodies were created and began to operate. At the moment, five states are members of the CU - Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. Several other countries are official candidates to join the organization or are considering doing so.

Russia

The Russian Federation is the initiator and basis of the CU. This country has the most powerful economy among all participating countries, and within the Union it has the opportunity to increase the competitiveness of its goods within the common market, which, according to experts, will give it additional profits in less than 10 years, totaling $400 billion.

Kazakhstan

For Kazakhstan, participation in the Customs Union is primarily good because it allows it to enter an association that provides a total of up to 16% of world grain exports. Working in the same field, Kazakhstan and Russia had the opportunity to significantly influence the world grain market, changing its conditions in their favor. In addition, the rapidly developing agricultural industry of Kazakhstan in this way managed to significantly strengthen its position in the Russian Federation and other countries of the association.

Belarus

For Belarus, which has long been partially integrated with Russia into a single customs and economic field, participation in the Customs Union made it possible to expand the geography of preferential supplies of its products to several more countries, and also increased the influx of investments, in particular from Kazakhstan. According to experts, participation in the Customs Union annually brings Belarus up to $2 billion in additional profit.

Armenia and Kyrgyzstan

These countries have recently become members of the Customs Union. Their involvement made it possible to further strengthen the association’s position in the global energy market. These same countries have received preferential access to markets, the total volume of which significantly exceeds their economic capabilities, so they are predicted to accelerate GDP growth and the general well-being of the population.

In general, the Customs Union is considered as a mutually beneficial economic partnership of geographically and mentally close countries that have equal rights and opportunities within the framework of the association. Considering the prospects for the accession of new members, we can expect that in the near future the CU will become an even more powerful and influential economic bloc.

Eurasian Union

Eurasian Union is an integration project in the Eurasian space, the goal of which is the economic and political rapprochement of post-Soviet countries (at the same time, this association could potentially attract many other Eurasian countries outside former USSR). To date Eurasian integration implemented in the form of a number of alliances different levels, the most important of which are the EAEU Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.

On May 29, 2014, a more advanced form of integration was created on the basis of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space - Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU, EurAsEC), which began its work on January 1, 2015. The Chairman of the EAEU in 2015 was Belarus, and in 2016 - Kazakhstan.

At the EAEU level, it was formed Common Market numbering 183 million people. The Union States - Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, as well as Armenia and Kyrgyzstan - pledged to guarantee the free movement of goods and services, capital and labor, as well as to implement coordinated policies in energy, industry, agriculture, transport.

[edit] History of Eurasian integration

In ancient times, large state entities a number of peoples. It is in this Eurasian area, according to the most common hypotheses, that the historical ancestral homelands of the Indo-Europeans are located (the Indo-European peoples include the Slavs, Armenians, Ossetians, Tajiks, etc.), Turks (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Uzbeks, etc.) and Finno-Ugric peoples ( Karelians, Mordvins, Udmurts, Mari, Komi, etc.). In the space of Eurasia, the Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Turks, Khazars, and Mongols created their own empire states.

Since the 16th century, Russia has become the largest state in the Eurasian space (in the 20th century - the Soviet Union). With the arrival of Russia in Eurasia it became possible merger this most important geopolitical region based on agriculture and industrial production, while the Eurasian traditions of pastoralism and nomadic farming were largely preserved. The disintegration of the USSR in the 1990s disrupted the established economic ties, which led to a deep and prolonged socio-economic crisis, from which some post-Soviet states have still not emerged. It is very characteristic that the collapse of the Soviet Union was most opposed by Kazakhstan and some other Asian republics of the USSR.

The initiator of Eurasian reintegration can rightfully be considered the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, who in March 1994 presented the project of the Eurasian Union, which at the first stage was to include Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. However, at that time destructive political processes in the post-Soviet space were still too strong, and full integration had to be postponed. Nevertheless, the unification process began. In 1995, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and a little later Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan signed the first agreement on plans to create a customs union.

Full-fledged Eurasian integration became possible with the coming to power in Russia of Vladimir Putin, who supported the ideas of Nursultan Nazarbayev; they were also supported by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (by January 26, 2000, the Union State of Russia and Belarus was created as a special integration association).

[edit] Chronology of integration

• October 10, 2000- in Astana (Kazakhstan), the heads of state (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) signed the Treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). The Treaty lays down the concept of close and effective trade and economic cooperation to achieve the goals and objectives defined by the Treaty on the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space. EurAsEC became the first effective organization providing integration process in the Eurasian space.

• May 30, 2001- the agreement on the creation came into force EurAsEC consisting of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In 2006-2008 Uzbekistan also participated in the EurAsEC; since 2002, Ukraine and Moldova received observer status, and since 2003, Armenia.

• February 23, 2003- the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine announced their intention to form a Common Economic Space (CES).

• October 6, 2007- the EurAsEC summit was held in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), at which the concept of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus was adopted. Created Customs Union Commission- a single permanent regulatory body of the EurAsEC Customs Union (in 2012, powers were transferred to the Eurasian Commission).

• July 6, 2010- agreements on Customs Union (CU) as part of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, earned Unified Customs Code.

• December 9, 2010- Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed all 17 documents on the creation Common Economic Space (SES)(agreements on common rules of competition, on the regulation of support for agriculture and industrial subsidies, on the regulation of railway transport, services and investments, on the protection of intellectual property, on the rules of technical regulation, on government procurement, on the status of migrants and combating illegal migration from third countries , on coordinated macroeconomic and monetary policies, on the free movement of capital, on the regulation of natural monopolies and access to their services, on the creation of a single market for oil and petroleum products).

• July 1, 2011- earned Single customs territory Customs Union: customs control has been abolished on the borders of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus (it has been moved to the outer contour of the borders of the Customs Union).

• October 18, 2011- in St. Petersburg, following a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth countries, an Agreement on CIS free trade zone. The CIS FTA provides for “minimizing exceptions from the range of goods to which import duties apply”; export duties must be fixed at a certain level, and subsequently phased out.

• November 18, 2011- an agreement on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Commission was signed.

• January 1, 2012- as a result of the entry into force of the relevant agreement, a Common Economic Space (SES) as a common market of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (since 2014 - SES of the Eurasian Economic Union), earned Eurasian Commission. The purpose of the SES is to ensure the “four freedoms” - the movement of goods, capital, services and labor - as well as ensuring the beginnings of coordination of the economic policies of the participating states in relation to macroeconomics, finance, transport and energy, trade, industry and agriculture.

• September 20, 2012- the agreement on CIS FTA between Belarus, Russia and Ukraine - the first three countries to ratify it. In 2012-2013 The treaty was also ratified by Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova; in a special order, Uzbekistan joined the FTA, and Tajikistan, although it signed the treaty, did not ratify it.

• May 29, 2014- Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed agreement on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

• October 10, 2014- Armenia joined the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. The EurAsEC organization was liquidated in connection with the fulfillment of its mission and the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.

• December 23, 2014- Kyrgyzstan joined (signed accession agreements) to the Eurasian Economic Union. Armenia's accession to the EAEU was approved.

• January 1, 2015- the agreement on the EAEU came into force, thus The Eurasian Economic Union was created.

• May 8, 2015- Presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia signed documents on Kyrgyzstan's accession to the Treaty on the EAEU.

• May 14, 2015- Iran plans to join the free trade zone with the EAEU

• May 25, 2015 - an agreement on a free trade zone was signed between the EAEU and Vietnam.

• May 27, 2015- Egypt has submitted an application to create a free trade zone with the EAEU.

• August 12, 2015- The Eurasian Union has abolished the customs border with Kyrgyzstan.

[edit] Eurasian Economic Union

On May 29, 2014, in Astana, the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which will come into force on January 1, 2015. On October 10, 2014, Armenia joined the union (accession agreements were signed), and on December 24, 2014, Kyrgyzstan joined (accession agreements were also signed).

Thus, at the moment, the formation of a common market of 183 million people has been completed, integration is increasing compared to integration at the level of the Customs Union. The union states undertake to guarantee the free movement of goods and services, capital and labor, as well as to implement coordinated policies in key sectors of the economy: energy, industry, agriculture, transport.

[edit] Composition of the EAEU

• Armenia(since October 10, 2014)
• Belarus(since May 29, 2014)
• Kazakhstan(since May 29, 2014)
• Kyrgyzstan(since December 23, 2014)
• Russia(since May 29, 2014)

• Moldova- has the status of an observer state in the Eurasian Economic Union (since April 14, 2017)

Other potential participants

• Tajikistan- in 2012 announced his intention to join the Customs Union and the EAEU after Kyrgyzstan.
• Mongolia

On July 21, 2015, Syria announced its desire to join the EAEU. On August 11, 2016, Tunisia also announced a similar intention through its ambassador to the Russian Federation.

[edit] Integration levels

[edit] Common Economic Space

On January 1, 2012, the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was created, which at that time became the closest form of integration of these countries. Key points of the agreements on the SES came into force in July 2012. The Customs Union is part of the agreements on the SES.

The SES is designed to ensure freedom of movement of goods, capital, services and labor between member states. The goal is also to ensure the beginnings of coordination of macroeconomics and the financial sector, transport and energy, trade, industrial and agro-industrial complexes and other important areas of the economy.

The composition of the SES is the same as that of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia). Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Abkhazia also express interest in joining the SES.

[edit] Customs Union

Customs Union of the EAEU(until 2014 - the Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Community, CU EurAsEC) - one of the forms of economic integration in the post-Soviet space. Among the people and the media, this organization is simply called “TS”. It was the term “Customs Union” in 2010-2014. was most often mentioned in the media when discussing economic integration in the post-Soviet space.

The main body of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia is the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which includes the heads of state and government of the Customs Union. At the level of heads of state, the council meets at least once a year, at the level of heads of government - at least twice a year. Decisions are made by consensus and become binding in all participating states.

The functions of the regulatory body have been performed by the Eurasian Economic Commission since January 1, 2012.

[edit] Vehicle composition

Currently, the Customs Union includes the following states:

[edit] Candidates for membership in the CU

• Tajikistan- in 2012 announced his intention to join the Customs Union and the EAEU after Kyrgyzstan. The entry of Kyrgyzstan was delayed, but it took place. Negotiations with Tajikistan are also dragging on.
• Mongolia- announced its intention to join the Customs Union and the EAEU in 2016.
• Moldova- On April 14, 2017, it received the status of an observer state at the Eurasian Economic Union. Since, as of 2017, in Moldova the president is in favor of Eurasian integration, and the parliament is against it, then further fate integration with Moldova depends on the development of the internal situation in this country.
  • Gagauzia- at a referendum held in 2014, she advocated joining the Customs Union. It should be taken into account that Gagauz autonomy is not an independent country either de jure or de facto. This is an autonomous republic within Moldova.

• Syria- also announced its desire to join the Customs Union back in 2010. Currently, preparations are being made for the signing of an agreement on a free trade zone between Syria and the Customs Union.

A number of unrecognized or partially recognized states also want to join the CU (due to their status, they face obstacles in realizing their intentions):

• Abkhazia- On February 16, 2010, she informally announced her desire to join the Customs Union.

• South Ossetia- On October 15, 2013, she announced her intention to join the Customs Union.

• Donetsk People's Republic

• Lugansk People's Republic- in 2014 announced its intention to join the Customs Union.

• Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic- On February 16, 2012, she announced her intention to join the Customs Union.

Former potential candidates

• Ukraine- according to its long-standing tradition, the Ukrainian leadership tried to sit on two chairs at the same time, moving closer to both the European Union and the Customs Union, but the CU member states made it clear that such a development of events is unacceptable. Currently, the issue of joining the Customs Union has stalled due to civil war in Ukraine. The current Ukrainian leadership has set a course for the so-called “European association”, which involves the introduction of European rules and regulations in Ukraine, as well as the opening of the domestic market for European manufacturers. In fact, this is destroying and in many ways has already destroyed the remnants of the high-tech industry in Ukraine (Ukrainian exporters lost 29% of exports to Russia in 2014, missing $3.9 billion, while exports to the EU grew by only $1 billion (mainly in agriculture ).

[edit] Free trade zone

On September 20, 2012, the free trade area of ​​the commonwealth countries (CIS FTA) began operating between Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, which ratified the agreement. In 2012-2013 The treaty was also ratified by Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova, Uzbekistan joined the FTA in a special manner, and Tajikistan signed the treaty, but has not yet ratified it.

A free trade area would "minimize exceptions to goods subject to import duties" and export duties would first be fixed and then phased out.

Agreements on a free trade zone bilaterally by individual EAEU countries were also signed with Serbia (a free trade regime has been in effect between Serbia and Russia since 2000, with Belarus - since March 31, 2009, with Kazakhstan - since October 7, 2010). The agreement with Vietnam was signed on May 25, 2015. On May 27, 2015, Egypt submitted an application to form an FTA with the EAEU.

In 2014, it was planned to sign a similar agreement on a free trade area with New Zealand (now in question due to New Zealand’s participation in anti-Russian sanctions). Negotiations on concluding such agreements are also underway with the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) , Israel, India, Syria, Montenegro and a number of Latin American countries.

In total, up to 40 countries intend to join the free trade zone with the EAEU; as of the beginning of 2017, about 50 countries expressed a desire to cooperate with the EAEU.

[edit] Countries that have signed the FTA

• Vietnam- the agreement was signed on May 29, 2015. Came into force 60 days after ratification in accordance with national legislation by all EAEU countries and Vietnam. The law on ratification of the FTA agreement was signed on May 2, 2016 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On May 31, the law on ratification of the FTA agreement was signed by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, and on June 2 by the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev.

[edit] FTA at the negotiation stage

• Egypt- the application was submitted on May 27, 2015.
• Thailand- On April 1, 2016, Russia and Thailand began negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone.
• Iran- Negotiations began in 2015.
• Mongolia- will begin the stage of negotiations on a free trade zone and possible accession in the fall of 2016.
• Serbia- is negotiating the creation of an FTA with the EAEU

[edit] Expressed interest in cooperation

[edit] What does joining the EAEU give?

The EAEU is intended to improve economic interaction and significantly simplify the lives of citizens of Eurasian countries in a number of respects:

• Customs control procedures will be weakened or eliminated.
• Economic, transport, energy, and migration policies will be coordinated.
• Legislation regarding doing business and trade will be partially unified.
• On June 19, 2015, it was announced that international roaming would be canceled within the EAEU.

[edit] Reaction of Western countries

Western politicians are by no means enthusiastic about the prospect of economic and political reintegration in the post-Soviet space. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, said that “the United States will try to prevent the re-creation of the Soviet Union.”

The only thing the United States has achieved so far in obstructing Eurasian integration is organizing a coup in Ukraine in February 2014, as a result of which the country actually collapsed during the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, the part of Ukraine that remained under the control of American puppets was imposed a suicidal course of breaking economic ties with the Russian Federation and “European association” with the EU. The collapse of Ukrainian industry and a serious energy crisis were clearly evident already in 2014.

Despite such clear intentions and actions of the United States, European political scientists believe that Russia will be able to expand its borders to approximately Soviet size in the next 20-30 years.

Putin, meanwhile, does not miss the opportunity to poke fun at Europeans who are now suffering from separatist sentiments, hinting at inviting certain people to the Customs Union European countries. Nazarbayev allows Turkey to be involved in Eurasian integration.

Countries of the Customs Union: list

IN modern world many countries unite into unions - political, economic, religious and others. One of the largest such unions was the Soviet Union. Now we see the emergence of the European, Eurasian, and also Customs unions.

The Customs Union was positioned as a form of trade and economic integration of a number of countries, which provides not only a common customs territory for mutually beneficial trade with the absence of duties, etc., but also a number of points regulating trade with third countries. This agreement was signed on October 6, 2007 in Dushanbe; at the time of its conclusion, the union included the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The first article of the contract on the movement of goods within this territory states the following:

• There is no customs duty. And not only for goods of own production, but also for cargo from third countries.
• There are no economic restrictions other than compensatory and anti-dumping ones.
• The countries of the Customs Union apply a single customs tariff.

Current countries and candidates

There are both permanent member countries of the Customs Union that were its founders or joined later, and those that have only expressed a desire to join.

Candidates for membership:

TS managers

There was a special CU commission, which was approved at the time of signing the agreement on the Customs Union. Its rules were the basis of the legal activities of the organization. The structure worked and remained within these legal frameworks until July 1, 2012, that is, until the creation of the EEC. The highest body of the union at that time was a group of representatives of the heads of state (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian Federation), Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev (Republic of Kazakhstan) and Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (Republic of Belarus)).

The following prime ministers were represented at the level of heads of government:

• Russia - Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev;
• Kazakhstan - Karim Kazhimkanovich Masimov;
• Belarus - Sergei Sergeevich Sidorsky.

Purpose of the Customs Union

The countries of the Customs Union, with the main goal of creating a single regulatory body, meant the formation of a common territory, which would include several states, and all duties on products would be abolished on their territory.

The second goal was to protect one’s own interests and markets, first of all, from harmful, poor-quality, and also competitive products, which makes it possible to smooth out all the shortcomings in the trade and economic sphere. This is very important, since protecting the interests of one’s own states, taking into account the opinions of the members of the union, is a priority for any country.

Benefits and prospects

First of all, the benefits are obvious for those enterprises that can easily purchase in neighboring countries. Most likely, these will only be large corporations and companies. As for the prospects for the future, contrary to some economists’ forecasts that the Customs Union will entail a decrease in the level of wages in the participating countries, at the official level, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan announced an increase in salaries in the state in 2015.

That is why the world experience of such large economic entities cannot be attributed to this case. Countries that have joined the Customs Union can expect, if not rapid, but stable growth in economic ties.

Agreement

The final version of the Agreement on the Customs Code of the Customs Union was adopted only at the tenth meeting, 10.26.2009. This pact spoke of the creation of special groups that would monitor activities to bring the revised draft treaty into effect.

The countries of the Customs Union had until July 1, 2010 to make changes to their legislation to eliminate contradictions between this Code and the Constitution. Thus, another contact group was created to resolve problems arising from differences between national legal systems.

All the nuances related to the territories of the Customs Union were also finalized.

Territory of the Customs Union

The countries of the Customs Union have a common customs territory, which is determined by the borders of the states that have entered into an agreement and are members of the organization. The Customs Code, among other things, determines the expiration date of the commission, which was July 1, 2012. Thus, a more serious organization was created, which has much more powers and, accordingly, more people in your state in order to fully control all processes. On January 1, 2012, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEC) officially began its work.

The Eurasian Economic Union includes member countries of the Customs Union: the founders - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan - and the recently joined states, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

The establishment of the EAEU implies more wide range relationships in the freedom of movement of labor, capital, services and goods. Also, a coordinated economic policy of all countries must be constantly pursued, and a transition to a single customs tariff must be carried out.

The total budget of this union is formed exclusively in Russian rubles, thanks to the share contributions made by all member countries of the Customs Union. Their size is regulated by the Supreme Council, which consists of the heads of these states.

Russian has become the working language for the regulations of all documents, and the headquarters will be located in Moscow. The financial regulator of the EAEU is in Almaty, and the court is in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

Bodies of the Union

The highest regulatory body is the Supreme Council, which includes the heads of participating states.

A judicial body was also created, which is responsible for the application of treaties within the Union.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) is a regulatory body that provides all the conditions for the development and functioning of the Union, as well as the development of new proposals in the economic sphere regarding the format of the EAEU. It consists of the Ministers of the Commission (deputy prime ministers of the Union member states) and the Chairman.

Main provisions of the Treaty on the EAEU

Of course, the EAEU, compared to the CU, has not only broader powers, but also much more extensive and specific list planned work. This document no longer has any general plans, but for each specific task the path for its implementation is determined and a special one is created working group, which will not only monitor the implementation, but also control its entire progress.

In the resulting agreement, the countries of the single Customs Union, and now the EAEU, secured an agreement on coordinated work and the creation of common energy markets. The work on energy policy is quite large-scale and will be implemented in several stages until 2025.

The document also regulates the creation of a common market for medical devices and medicines by January 1, 2016.

Great importance is attached to transport policy on the territory of the EAEU states, without which it will not be possible to create a single joint action plan. The development of a coordinated agro-industrial policy is envisaged, which includes the mandatory formation of veterinary and phytosanitary measures.

A coordinated macroeconomic policy provides an opportunity to translate all planned plans and agreements into reality. In such conditions, they are developed general principles interaction and ensure effective development of countries.

A special place is occupied by the common labor market, which regulates not only the free movement of labor, but also the same working conditions. Citizens who go to work in the EAEU countries will no longer need to fill out migration cards (if their stay does not exceed 30 days). The same simplified system will apply to medical care. The issue of exporting pensions and counting the length of service accumulated in a Union member country is also being resolved.

Expert opinions

The list of countries of the Customs Union may soon be replenished with several more states, but, according to experts, full growth and influence on similar Western unions similar to the EU will be noticeable ( European Union), a lot of work and expansion of the organization is needed. In any case, the ruble will not be able to become an alternative to the euro or dollar yet for a long time, and the impact of recent sanctions clearly showed how Western policy can work to serve its own interests, and that at the same time neither Russia itself nor the whole Union they can't actually do anything about it. As for Kazakhstan and Belarus specifically, the conflict in Ukraine showed that they will not give up their benefits to please Russia. The tenge, by the way, also fell sharply due to the fall of the ruble. And on many issues, Russia remains the main competitor of Kazakhstan and Belarus. However, at the moment, the creation of the Union is an adequate and only correct decision that can help at least somehow strengthen relations between states in the event of further Western pressure on Russia.

It is now known which countries in the Customs Union are more interested in its creation. Despite the fact that even at the stage of its inception it was constantly plagued by all sorts of problems, the joint coordinated actions of all members of the Union make it possible to solve them as quickly as possible, which makes it possible to look into the future with optimism and hope for the rapid development of the economies of all states participating in this treaty.

List of member countries of the Customs Union in 2017

The Customs Union is an agreement adopted by the participants of the Eurasian Economic Union, the purpose of which is abolition of customs duties in trade relations. Based on these agreements, general methods implementation economic activity, a platform for quality assessments and certification.

Thanks to this it is achieved abolition of customs controls at the borders within the Union, general provisions for regulating economic activity for the external borders of the CU are concluded. In view of this, a common customs space is being created, using a generally accepted approach to border control. Another distinctive feature is the equality of rights of citizens of the customs area during employment.

Members

In 2017, the Customs Union consists of next members of the EAEU:

• Republic of Armenia (since 2015);
• Republic of Belarus (since 2010);
• Republic of Kazakhstan (since 2010);
• Kyrgyz Republic (since 2015);
• Russian Federation (since 2010).

The desire to become a party to this agreement was voiced by Syria and Tunisia. In addition, we know about the proposal to include Turkey in the CU agreement. However, to date, no specific procedures have been adopted for these states to join the Union.

It is clearly visible that the functioning of the Customs Union serves as a good tool for strengthening economic relations countries located on the territory of the former Soviet countries. We can also say that the approach established in the agreement by the participating countries speaks of restoring lost connections in modern conditions.

Customs duties are distributed through a single sharing mechanism.

Given this information, it can be stated that the Customs Union, as we know it today, serves serious tool for the economic unification of countries that are members of the EAEU.

Stages of formation

To understand what the activities of the Customs Union are, it will not be amiss to gain an understanding of how it was formed to its current state.

The emergence of the Customs Union was initially presented as one of the steps in the integration of the CIS countries. This was evidenced in the agreement on the creation of an economic union, signed on September 24, 1993.

Step by step moving towards this goal, in 1995, two states (Russia and Belarus) entered into an agreement between themselves on the approval of the Customs Union. Later, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also joined this group.

More than 10 years later, in 2007, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed a pact to unite their territories into a single customs region and approve the Customs Union.

In order to specify the previously concluded agreements, from 2009 to 2010, more than 40 additional agreements were concluded. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have decided that, starting in 2012, a Common Market thanks to the unification of countries into a single economic space.

On July 1, 2010, another important agreement was concluded, which set into motion the work of the Unified Customs Tariff and the Customs Code.

On July 1, 2011, the current customs controls at the borders between countries were canceled and general rules were established at the borders with states that are not in the agreement. Until 2013, uniform legislative norms for the parties to the agreement will be formed.

2014 – The Republic of Armenia joins the Customs Union. 2015 – The Republic of Kyrgyzstan joins the Customs Union.

Territory and management

The unification of the borders of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan became the basis for the emergence of the Single Customs Space. This is how the territory of the Customs Union was formed. In addition, it includes certain territories or objects under the jurisdiction of the parties to the agreement.

The management and coordination of the Eurasian Economic Union is carried out by two organs:

1. Interstate Council- the highest body of a supranational nature, consists of heads of state and head of government of the Customs Union.
2. Customs Union Commission- the department that deals with issues related to the formation customs rules and regulates foreign trade policy.

Directions and conditions

When creating the Customs Union, countries declared the main goal socio-economic progress. In the future, this implies an increase in trade turnover and services produced by business entities.

The increase in sales was initially expected directly in the space of the vehicle itself due to following conditions:

1. The abolition of customs procedures within the Union, which was supposed to make products produced within a single space more attractive through the abolition of duties.
2. Increasing trade turnover by eliminating customs controls at internal borders.
3. Adoption of uniform requirements and integration of safety standards.

Achieving goals and perspectives

Having collected available information about the emergence and activities of the Customs Union, we can come to the conclusion that the results of increasing the turnover of goods and services are published much less frequently than news about the signing of new agreements, i.e. its declarative part.

But, nevertheless, analyzing the stated goals when creating the Customs Union, as well as observing their implementation, one cannot remain silent that simplification of trade turnover has been achieved and competitive conditions have been improved for economic entities of the Customs Union states.

It follows from this that the Customs Union is on the way to achieving its goals, however, in addition to time, this requires the mutual interest of both the states themselves and the economic elements within the Union.

Activity analysis

The customs union consists of countries that have the same economic background, but today these states are very different from each other. Of course, even in Soviet times, the republics differed in their specialization, but after gaining independence, many more changes occurred that affected the world market and the division of labor.

However, there are also common interests. For example, many participating countries remain dependent on Russian market sales This trend is economic and geopolitical in nature.

Throughout the whole time leading positions in the process of integration and stabilization of the EAEU and the Customs Union played Russian Federation. This was possible due to its stable economic growth until 2014, when prices for raw materials remained high, which helped finance the processes launched by the agreements.

Although such a policy did not predict rapid economic growth, it still assumed the strengthening of Russia's position on the world stage.

To achieve these goals, the Republic increased tariffs on imported cars in the absence of its own production. Because of such measures it was necessary to install rules for certification of light industry goods, which hurt retail trade.

In addition, the standards adopted at the CU level were unified with the WTO model, despite the fact that Belarus is not a member of this organization, unlike Russia. Enterprises of the Republic have not received access to Russian import substitution programs.

All this served as obstacles for Belarus on the path to achieving its goals in full.

It should not be overlooked that the signed CU agreements contain various exceptions, clarifications, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, which have become an obstacle to the achievement of common benefits and equal conditions for all countries. IN different time in fact, every participant in the agreement expressed disagreement with the terms contained in the agreements.

Although customs posts on the borders between the parties to the agreement were eliminated, border zones between countries have been preserved. Sanitary control at internal borders also continued. A lack of trust in interaction practice has been revealed. An example of this is the disagreements that flare up from time to time between Russia and Belarus.

Today it is impossible to say that the goals that were declared in the agreement on the creation of the Customs Union have been achieved. This is evident from the decrease in the turnover of goods within the customs area. There are also no economic development benefits when compared with the time before the agreements were signed.

But there are still signs that in the absence of an agreement the situation would deteriorate more rapidly. The manifestation of the crisis would be broader and deeper. A significant number of enterprises gain relative benefits by participating in trade relations within the Customs Union.

The agreements signed by the parties benefited the production of automobiles. Duty-free sales of cars assembled by manufacturers in participating countries have become available. Thus, conditions have been created for the implementation of projects that previously could not succeed.

What is the Customs Union? Details are in the video.

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Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The day before, it was ratified in the fifth country of the EAEU - Kyrgyzstan.

The new document replaced the Customs Union code that had been in force since 2010. He pursues the principle of “electronic customs” and maximum rejection of “paper”. “It states that only a customs declaration is sufficient for the passage of goods, and the provision of documents on the basis of which it is filled out is not necessary,” he said. Rossiyskaya newspaper"Minister for Customs Cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mukai Kadyrkulov.

Demand accompanying documents Customs officers will only be able to do so if the risk management system works. It is based on format-logical control.

“When going through customs clearance, attention is paid to the country of origin (especially if deliveries from it have some preferences for customs duties), the sender, the value column, product code, and so on,” explains Mukai Kadyrkulov. “In the Code, we actually farmed out control information technology. All decisions - from registering a declaration to releasing goods into free circulation - will be made by a computer, not a person. Whether additional checks are needed and, if necessary, in what form - this will also be decided by the information and analytical system ", and not a specific customs inspector. If the system is triggered, a request is automatically sent - a requirement to provide a certificate of the country of origin or other data."

In addition, the product release time is sharply reduced. It was one working day following the day of registration of the declaration, and only for some cases - four hours.

Customs officers will require documents for cargo only when the risk management system is triggered

“The new code states that the release must be completed within four hours from the moment of registration of the customs declaration, if, I repeat, the risk management system did not work,” says Mukai Kadyrkulov. “This is also the norm that business demanded to be formalized by law. In fact In fact, today a decent participant in foreign economic activity spends not even hours, but sometimes minutes, on registration. But we have stated in the document that four hours. Again, if the risk management system does not work. For example, if a one-day company shows that a given product costs she has mere pennies, then questions arise and documents may be requested for confirmation.”

Thus, customs control is transferred mainly to the stage after the release of goods. By providing security for the payment of customs duties, a participant in foreign economic activity will be able to dispose of the imported goods until the verification of the necessary documents is completed.

It is important that until the risk management system requests documents confirming the information stated in the declaration, and the customs inspector notifies of the place and time of customs inspection, the participant in foreign economic activity will be able to make changes to the already submitted declaration. Previously, changes were only possible if they did not affect the decision to release goods or revise the amount of customs duties.

The new code allows not to provide regulatory authorities with information that officials can "get" it out of their system. This will save entrepreneurs from submitting the same documents to customs officers, transport workers, phytosanitary officers, veterinarians, etc. one by one. They will be able to do their checks at the same time.

The EAEU Customs Code provides all participants in foreign economic activity with the opportunity to take advantage of a deferment in the payment of customs duties with interest. In some cases, it will be possible to delay payment, including without accruing interest for the delay, for up to six months - in the event of force majeure, deliveries within the framework of international agreements or support of agricultural activities.

The Federal Customs Service has organized “hot lines” in all regions to clarify questions that may arise in connection with the entry into force of the EAEU Customs Code. Phone numbers are listed at

The new year 2018 will become a landmark year in the customs sphere for the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union - the EAEU Customs Code should come into force on January 1. A BELTA correspondent, with the help of First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus Vladimir Orlovsky, has collected in one material the main innovations provided for by the EAEU Customs Code.

Project work

The preparation of the draft Customs Code of the EAEU was carried out by a working group on improving customs legislation at the site of the Eurasian Economic Commission. It included representatives of the EEC, government bodies and the business community of the countries participating in the integration association.

“The work was intense. We carried out two stages of internal approvals, during which the parties made more than 2 thousand amendments. We have answered all the questions. The most complex ones were considered at meetings of the EEC Council and the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council,”– told Vladimir Orlovsky.

He emphasized that from the very beginning of work on the document, business representatives from all five EAEU member countries took an active part in the process. “This is the first example of the development of such a serious and comprehensive document with such active participation business circles"– noted the First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee.

The new code codifies about 20 existing international treaties. “Over the past six years, there have been attempts to make changes to these documents, which have not always been successful. The EAEU Customs Code has included all the necessary changes, eliminating legal conflicts and gaps,”– explained Vladimir Orlovsky.

The EAEU Customs Code is a directly applicable document based on the best standards and best practices in customs affairs, including the provisions of the Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures and the WTO Bali Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

The structure of the new code differs from the currently valid Customs Code of the Customs Union. Terminology and norms are consistent with the Treaty on the EAEU. The Code includes 9 sections, 61 chapters, 465 articles, 2 appendices.

“The Customs Code of the EAEU is a strategically important document that will contribute to deepening further integration and unlocking the economic potential of the EAEU,”– assured Vladimir Orlovsky.

Customs declaration and release of goods

In the digital economy, one of the key elements of the EAEU Customs Code has become the final transition to electronic declaration without the need to provide additional paper documents. The paper version of documents will have to be provided only at the request of customs authorities as part of the risk management system and only in cases where the necessary information cannot be obtained from information systems“single window” mechanism, i.e. from other government agencies. “Submission of a declaration for goods on paper to the customs authority will be the exception and not the rule, as is provided for in the current code,” - emphasized Vladimir Orlovsky.

The experience gained in the customs field and the rapid development of information technology demonstrate the inevitability of replacing the participation of a customs officer with special software. “In this vein, at the proposal of the Belarusian side, the code normatively enshrines the possibility of automatic customs clearance and automatic implementation of certain forms of customs control - without the participation of customs officers,”

Also, at the initiative of the Belarusian side, the release time for goods has been significantly reduced. If the current code provides for a maximum of 1 working day, then in the new code the release period is reduced to 4 hours, which, obviously, will contribute to the speedy advancement of commodity flows.

In addition, the use of the institution of preliminary customs declaration of goods has been expanded - before entering the country. “The declarant has the opportunity to submit a preliminary declaration not only before the import of goods, but also before arriving at the internal customs clearance point. This opportunity will help optimize the costs of participants in foreign economic activity, since the declarant will be able to use the time during which the goods are moved under the transit procedure,”– explained Vladimir Orlovsky.

In addition, the new code significantly expands the possibilities for declaring goods when, for objective reasons, the declarant does not have any information about them. For the convenience of the declarant, mechanisms for the so-called incomplete declaration have been implemented, i.e. indicating not all information about the product. And for enterprises that carry out standard deliveries with regular counterparties, the institution of periodic declaration has been established, when in fact one declaration replaces several for different batches of goods.

The use of the mechanism for releasing goods with subsequent control of the correctness of their classification and origin and confirmation of benefits has been expanded. “In fact, in this case, customs control will be carried out after the release of goods, and customs clearance itself will be carried out in the shortest possible time. In the current legislation, such a mechanism is used only when controlling customs value and when it is necessary to conduct an examination of goods,”

It is also important that the grounds for refusal to release goods are reduced to a minimum. Now, in the event of violations that do not entail administrative liability, for example, inaccurate filling in the fields of the customs declaration, only adjustments to the declaration are provided without refusal to issue.

customs control

According to the new code, when conducting controls, customs authorities will proceed from the principle of selectivity, as well as the use of a risk management system.

The EAEU Customs Code has reduced the number of forms of customs control - from 12 to 7.

The document also contains norms aimed at further development of the post-customs control system, allowing to minimize control at the registration stage and verify individual information in the future.

Customs procedures

The EAEU Customs Code provides a unified description of all customs procedures and uniformly defines the conditions for the placement and use of goods in customs procedures, as well as the completion, suspension and termination of their validity, which creates clear and understandable conditions for participants in foreign economic activity.

The document includes provisions on customs procedures for a free customs zone and a customs warehouse, which are now regulated by separate international agreements, as well as a special customs procedure, it is currently regulated by a decision of the EEC.

In addition, the code expands the geography of use of goods imported temporarily with exemption from customs duties. “According to the current code, such goods can only be used in the territory of the states where the goods are registered. After the entry into force of the EAEU Labor Code, they can be used throughout the territory of the union,”– explained Vladimir Orlovsky.

Customs transit

“Belarus is a transit country, 70% of consignments of goods are imported into our state for the purpose of transit, therefore creating the most convenient conditions for the transportation of transit goods was especially important for the Belarusian side when the EAEU Customs Code was being prepared. Accordingly, Belarusian specialists made maximum proposals to simplify the transit procedure,”– noted the first deputy chairman of the State Customs Committee.

Thus, one of the innovations is the ability to provide preliminary information in the form of an electronic document without providing a paper version. An electronic document can be used for notification of the arrival of goods, placement in temporary storage and customs declaration.

The procedure for submitting information upon arrival has been simplified. “If the documents presented at the border checkpoint do not contain all the necessary information, the carrier will be able to declare it by independently submitting an application in any form, and not wait for the receipt of this information, for example, from a foreign sender. This is especially important when the goods are shipped on weekends or at night. Now, if there is no document, you need to wait until the sending company starts working,”– said Vladimir Orlovsky.

At the initiative of the Belarusian side, the code includes such an innovation as reducing the maximum time for the procedure for closing transit at the destination to 4 hours. Approaches to multimodal transportation are also regulated. “If transportation is carried out by several modes of transport, then the declarant can be one person who declared the goods once,”– he explained.

The new code enshrines the possibility in national legislation to use the so-called transit-free technology. “We have already used elements of this technology, but as an experiment. Now we can do this on an ongoing basis and, in some cases, move goods across the country without being placed under the transit procedure. “We are primarily talking about the movement of goods to border transport and logistics centers,”– explained Vladimir Orlovsky.

In addition, the document enshrines individual cases the use of foreign vehicles in domestic transportation within the territory of the Union. Thus, the approaches of customs and transport legislation are unified. “Previously, transport legislation allowed such transportation, but customs legislation did not allow it. The application of this norm will make it possible to reduce the number of so-called empty vehicles and make full use of vehicles when moving across the territory of the Union,”– said the first deputy chairman of the State Customs Committee.

Free customs zone

According to Vladimir Orlovsky, the provisions on the free customs zone procedure have been significantly revised. It is possible for FEZ residents to export goods placed under the free trade zone procedure without completing it in order to create so-called technological chains. "Those. if not all operations can be carried out in a free economic zone, but you need to go to some enterprise, such an opportunity will appear without closing the transit procedure or paying fees. It will be necessary to notify the customs authority, export the goods, bring them back and continue processing,”– he explained.

An equally significant innovation is the possibility of removing certain categories of goods from customs control without completing the customs procedure of the Free Trade Zone and paying customs duties. First of all, this concerns consumables that are used for the construction of buildings on the territory of the FEZ and for the repair of equipment. Previously, goods that were used continued to be controlled. The new code will allow such goods to be removed from control without customs declaration.

The Code resolves another problem for domestic FEZ residents: it allows the transfer of goods placed under the FTZ customs procedure to other persons for maintenance, repair or testing. Previously, it was necessary to close the procedure. “This will contribute to the creation of additional comfortable conditions for SEZ residents to carry out their activities without the need to resort to burdensome procedures,” – assured Vladimir Orlovsky.

The EAEU Customs Code also establishes norms that allow Belarusian SEZs in certain areas in some regions to take advantage of logistics and port zones.

In addition, the code provides for the creation in states of another type of zones with a special legal status - the so-called territorial free economic zones. These are the zones with the greatest simplifications, but the number of such zones in each state is regulated by the EAEU Customs Code. The possibility of operating two such SEZs has been determined for Belarus, three for Russia, and one each for Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. According to Vladimir Orlovsky, Belarus has already decided on one zone. This will be the territory of the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park “Great Stone”. Which territory will be the second is yet to be determined.

Activities in the field of customs affairs

The new code has improved the activities of persons in the field of customs affairs. Thus, if a person operating as a customs representative or customs carrier is at the same time an authorized economic operator, then the financial guarantee will be provided once, and not for each type of activity. This will reduce the financial burden on business entities.

For the customs representative, a decision has already been made to reduce the financial guarantee from 1 million to 500 thousand euros.

Institute of Authorized Economic Operator

The institution of an authorized economic operator has received a fundamentally new development. If the Customs Code of the Customs Union provides for 4 simplifications, then the EAEU Labor Code provides for 17. Which of them can be used by an authorized economic operator will depend on the type of AEO that the entity chooses. “This is especially important for Belarus, because We currently have the most AEOs – 323. For comparison: in Russia there are 150, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – 3 each, in Armenia – 2,”– said Vladimir Orlovsky.

In Belarus, AEO status is assigned to legal entity State Customs Committee by issuing a certificate of inclusion in the register. A business entity with the appropriate status can currently use such simplifications as temporary storage of goods in AEO territories; release of goods before filing a customs declaration; carrying out customs operations related to the release of goods in the territories of the AEO; other simplifications determined by the customs legislation of the union.

Vladimir Orlovsky named several new simplifications that are provided for AEOs by the new code. “First of all, this is the first priority clearance of the operator’s goods. Moreover, both at the border and at internal customs clearance points. In addition, delivery of goods from the border to the territory of one’s own enterprise will be allowed, and not to a temporary storage warehouse where the customs clearance point is located. This is a serious norm, suffice it to say that about 40% of our imports are processed through AEO,- he said. – We looked at the figures for approximately how many freight vehicles per day can simultaneously, using this norm, go not to the registration point, but directly to the enterprise - about 250 trucks per day. Of course, this will affect the operation of existing temporary storage warehouses. But everyone knew about this norm in advance and must adapt.” Another simplification will be the notification procedure for unloading imported goods at your warehouse. Those. A business entity will be able not only to deliver the goods to its warehouse, but also, after notifying the customs authority, to unload and use the goods.

The first deputy chairman of the State Customs Committee emphasized that two years after the entry into force of the EAEU Customs Code, business entities that currently have UOE status will be able to use all the simplifications that they enjoyed before January 1, 2018. Plus simplification regarding the delivery of goods from the border to the territory of your enterprise. To use the remaining simplifications, you will need to re-register and obtain the status of one of the types. By the way, maximum simplifications are provided for the third type.

It is especially important that with the entry into force of the EAEU Labor Code, the simplifications associated with the AEO status will be able to be used by a business entity throughout the territory of the union, and not just in the country where it received this status. But only those companies that received the status or re-registered it after January 1, 2018 will be able to use this opportunity.

At the same time, the procedure for inclusion in the AEO register will change. “Because the status will be valid not only on the territory of its state; the code contains mechanisms by which each country will be able to exercise its control over who is planned to be included in the register. This procedure will slightly increase the time decision making», – explained Vladimir Orlovsky.

The code also provides for a gradual reduction in the amount of financial security, the presence of which is a condition for inclusion in the AEO register. If now such security is 1 million euros, then within six years it will be reduced to 150 thousand euros. “The period of time spent in the status of an active UOE will be counted towards this period, so our commissioners who have enjoyed the status for a long time will be able to feel the advantage in the near future,”– said the first deputy chairman of the State Customs Committee.

In addition, the new document provides Alternative option collateral – confirmation of the financial stability of the organization. The EEC has developed a system for assessing financial indicators. If businesses comply with them, they will not need to provide collateral.

Legal acts in development of the code

In order for the code to work in full force, it is necessary to adopt a package of decisions of the Eurasian Economic Commission on issues that the document refers to its competence, as well as regulate a number of reference norms sent for determination at the national level.

As for the EEC, all major decisions, 28 of them, have been adopted.

“After the Customs Code was signed by the Belarusian side in April, we developed a draft decree in which we implemented a number of reference norms. We worked on this document, as well as on the draft code, in close cooperation with business. We discussed it for a long time, we had several options. As a result, we tried to take into account the interests of business as much as possible within the limits that the Customs Code allows us,”– noted Vladimir Orlovsky. According to him, the final version has been agreed upon by the majority of government agencies, and the document is now at the final stage of approval.

Vladimir Orlovsky stated that the draft decree contains about 80 norms of direct action. In addition, 20 issues are within the competence of the State Customs Committee, 10 – within the competence of the Government. The draft decree also introduces changes to 15 existing decrees regulating the functioning of free economic zones, duty-free shops, and the movement of goods individuals and a number of others.

“Currently, a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers has been developed, which further defines in detail the norms of not only the code, but also the draft decree. In the near future, together with government agencies and businesses, we will complete work on the document,”– said Vladimir Orlovsky.

Thus, comprehensive work was done to adapt the new code in the context of the application of national legislation. “This work will continue. Next year, the task is to develop a new edition of the Law “On Customs Regulation”, which will spell out the reference norms of the EAEU Customs Code,”- said the first deputy chairman.

Duty-free import rules

One of the decisions assigned by the EAEU Customs Code to the competence of the EEC was the determination of norms for duty-free import of goods. Throughout 2018, the existing rules will remain in effect - goods with a total amount of no more than 1.5 thousand euros and weighing up to 50 kg will be imported duty-free.

In the future, the weight and cost limits for duty-free import of goods in accompanied baggage by any mode of transport except air will be gradually reduced. From January 2019, they will decrease to 1 thousand euros and 50 kg, respectively, from January 1, 2020 - to 750 euros and 35 kg. From January 1, 2021, it will be possible to bring goods from abroad duty-free for an amount not exceeding 500 euros and weighing no more than 25 kg. The changes did not affect goods imported into the territory of the EAEU in accompanied baggage by air. When traveling by plane, you will still be able to bring with you from abroad duty-free purchases worth up to 10 thousand euros and weighing no more than 50 kg.

The concept of a gradual reduction in limits also includes goods that are delivered to a buyer from abroad through international mail or by a carrier, including purchases from foreign online stores. According to the decision of the EEC Council, from January 1, 2018, a limit on such goods was set at 1 thousand euros and 31 kg for one calendar month. From January 1, 2019, for one calendar month, without paying customs duties and taxes, it will be possible to order goods totaling up to 500 euros and weighing no more than 31 kg. From January 1, 2020, duty-free import standards will be reduced to 200 euros and 31 kg. In this case, all restrictions on time and number of orders will be lifted.

In addition, along with duty-free import standards, from January 1, 2020, the amount of customs duty for exceeding limits will be significantly reduced. If in 2018-2019 you will have to pay 30% of the cost for exceeding the norm, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg of weight in terms of exceeding the cost or weight norm, then already in 2020 - 15% of the cost, but not less than 2 euros per 1 kg overweight.

At the same time, the possibility of introducing additional restrictions that reduce duty-free import standards is left to national legislation. “In Belarus, a decision on this issue is planned to be made in the near future,”– said Vladimir Orlovsky

Currently in EAEU countries Different standards apply. In Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, the threshold for duty-free import is 1 thousand euros, in Armenia - 200 thousand drams (about 350 euros), in Belarus - 22 euros.

Duty free shops

The EAEU Customs Code stipulates that goods in duty free stores can be purchased not only when leaving, but also when entering the EAEU.

“The new norm: goods in duty-free stores can be sold not only when individuals leave the country, as is the case now, but also when entering the EAEU. But the code stipulates this possibility only at airports and sea ​​ports», – said Vladimir Orlovsky.

At the same time, the first deputy chairman of the State Customs Committee drew attention to the fact that the code provides for a rule according to which in stores located at the entrance, alcohol and tobacco will be sold at the established rates for duty-free import. "Those. not any quantity, as when leaving, but only within the framework of duty-free import. If, for example, the norm for duty-free import of alcohol is 3 liters, then no more than 3 liters,”– he explained.