Belarusian and Russian customs officers signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for the period of the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship held in the Republic of Belarus

An important event took place within the framework of the seventh meeting of the Joint Board of Customs Services of the Customs Union Member States, which was held on February 26-28 in Novopolotsk.

At a press conference, the head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Andrey Belyaninov, noted that customs officers have experience of joint activities during large-scale international competitions, including the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship.

– Back then, the work of our services was not visible, – said Andrey Yuryevich. – The event was held in comfortable conditions for people. Similar work will be carried out during the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship.

In turn, the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus, Alexander Shpilevsky, added that certain steps are currently being taken to sign similar documents with other neighboring countries – Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Ukraine – within a month and a half. This will allow customs services to create the most favorable conditions for citizens crossing state borders and for the movement of goods across them during an important sports event for Belarus.

The meeting of the Joint Board of Customs Services of the Customs Union Member States discussed 19 items. Among the priorities are issues related to the improvement of customs legislation regulating the procedure for providing preliminary information and the organization of information interaction between the customs services of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. In particular, as emphasized by the Chairman of the Customs Control Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Marzhit Yesenbayev, serious problems arise with cars imported into the territory of the Customs Union countries. The agreements reached in terms of information exchange will allow them to be resolved promptly.

During a press conference, journalists also raised the issue of convergence of the positions of the three countries on the implementation of electronic declaration. Alexander Shpilevsky reported on this matter that currently in Belarus, 95 percent of exports and 83 percent of imports are declared electronically. By the end of the current year, electronic declaration of imports should reach about 90 percent. This is the best indicator among the Customs Union countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to their heads, Russian and Kazakh customs authorities are also actively implementing advanced technologies. As noted by Mazhit Yesenbayev, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, electronic declaration for exports began to be practiced last year. In the second half of 2013, this procedure will also be introduced for imports. The head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Andrey Belyaninov, did not specify the exact deadlines for the complete transition to electronic declaration of goods in the Customs Union, but expressed confidence that it will happen in the near future.

Elena SYS. "Vitebsky Rabochy"