Business news

CHISINAU, 1 December (BelTA) – Belarus and Moldova are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement on a system designed to facilitate mutual trade, BelTA has learned.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Moldova has approved the draft agreement and has given a go-ahead to the negotiations and the consequent signing of the document. The agreement is supposed to be signed in Chisinau in mid-December.

Moldovan Finance Minister Octavian Armasu noted that the agreement is supposed to develop the mutual trade facilitation system by means of exchanging important information about commodities and vehicles, which are transported between Moldova and Belarus. The document is aimed at bolstering relations between the customs services with a view to making customs control more effective, simplifying various procedures, and reducing the time spent on customs clearance and border crossing.

The agreement will enable more effective interaction and coordination of the operation of Belarusian and Moldovan customs agencies with a view to simplifying and making mutual trade more secure. Technical terms of sharing information between the customs agencies will have to be approved. People responsible for organizing information exchange will be appointed in accordance with the technical terms.

The agreement will last indefinitely. It can be terminated by any side by sending the relevant notification via diplomatic channels. Once it is done, the agreement will lose its effect six months after the notification is received but the transit transactions, which are already in progress, will not be affected.

Octavian Armasu underlined that the urgency of signing the agreement stems from the need to develop foreign economic relations between Belarus and Moldova. The final goal of the agreement is to enable favorable conditions for facilitating mutual trade and for protecting social and economic interests of the two countries.