Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 25 October (BelTA) – Belarus is prepared for the commencement of the EAEU Customs Code on 1 January 2018, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus Yuri Senko said at the third session of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, BelTA has learned.

“The commencement of the EAEU Customs Code is not an easy affair. The provisions of the document envisage the resolution of a number of issues at the national level. It is necessary to introduce about 20 laws and legal acts, 40 resolutions of the State Customs Committee and about 20 resolutions of the government. There are pending issues. In this regard, since January 2017 a joint working group of the State Customs Committee, interested government agencies and business circles have been preparing a draft decree including about 70 norms with direct effect which should become operational on 1 January 2018,” Yuri Senko said.

The chairman of the State Customs Committee said that as of 10 October all nuances that should be included in the draft decree were harmonized with the interested bodies. “Businessmen have also supported these amendments. In the near future we will submit the document to the head of state for signing. There will not be any problems with the regulation of the issues at the national level in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code,” he stressed.

Yuri Senko stated that the EAEU Customs Code is a very progressive document which has been supported by all five member states. “The document includes a number of innovations which will be beneficial for us as they simplify formal procedures and reduce the time of spent on the customs clearance of cargoes. There will be serious innovations for authorized economic operators. This is a progressive norm for our country because 323 legal entities now have such a status in Belarus. In accordance with the Customs Code, the economic operator which is for the first time registered as an authorized economic operator should submit a financial guarantee in the amount of €1 million. This is a rather big amount, but for the legal entities that have been working as such operators for five years the amount will be reduced two times, for the legal entities that have been such operators for six years it will make up €150,000. Starting from 1 January, more than a half of our economic operators will submit a financial guarantee in the amount of €150,000 at most,” he said.

The new Customs Code will enter into force after the Eurasian Economic Commission receives notifications on the ratification of the treaty by the five member states.

The document also provides for the transition to the electronic form of customs administration. This approach will help save the resources of business, facilitate customs formalities, and neutralize human factor in making decisions at all levels, from the regularity of a declaration to the release of goods.