Speech by Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of EEC Board, at press scrum following EIC

At the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries considered 30 documents important for deepening our integration.

The initiative put forward by the Russian Federation­ to develop cooperation within the EAEU was supported. The Heads of Government discussed the draft ­Declaration on further development of economic ­processes within the EAEU until 2030 and for the period until 2045 "Eurasian Economic Way".­ The document is expected to be presented to the Heads of State in December 2023.

Information on the progress in preparing the report on the outcomes of the EAEU functioning over a 10-year period was reported.

The rules for mutual trade­ in electric power and the rules for ­determining and allocating the capacity of interstate cross-sections were approved.­ These are very important documents that ensure the functioning of the EAEU common electric power market.­

Fundamentally new directions of cooperation – project cooperation – were adopted.­ The Regulation on selecting joint cooperative projects in manufacturing sectors was approved.­

Starting next year, the Eurasian cooperative projects will be supported by subsidizing interest rates on loans granted at the expense of the Union's budget in the amount of about 20 mln dollars per year.­

The highest priority sectors are machine building, ­microelectronics, aviation, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.­

On some preliminary outcomes of the work of the EAEU statutory bodies in 2023.­ The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council adopted 17 documents, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council adopted 28 documents, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council adopted 175 documents, and the Eurasian Economic Commission's Board adopted 327 documents. In the first nine months of this year, 8 agreements were signed and 12 international treaties came into effect.

The Union countries' economies ensure growth. According to preliminary estimates, ­the GDP volume index in the EAEU was 102.8% in January-August 2023 compared to January-August 2022.­

The volume of mutual trade between the Union States increased by 9.6% in the first 8 months of 2023.­

Cooperation ties become stronger. In January-August 2023, the supplies of cooperative goods increased by 5.2% to the high base of 2022.­ This contributed to saturating the internal market with the EAEU products. The volume of industrial production for 8 months amounted to 103.2% (930 bln US dollars) to the corresponding period of 2022, in the manufacturing industry – 106.6%, investments in fixed assets for January-June – 108.1% to 6 months of 2022.­­

 

Real salary increased in all EAEU countries in January-August 2023. The highest growth rates of average monthly real salary were registered in Armenia – 113.9%, Kyrgyzstan – 112.2% and Belarus – 109.3%.­­

The Commission will continue its work on all instructions and objectives outlined by the Heads of Government.­­ The EIC next meeting will be held in early February 2024 in Almaty.

 

Draft declaration on further development of EAEU integration processes presented to Intergovernmental Council

At the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on October 26, the Heads of Government considered the draft Declaration "On the main objectives and key directions of further development of integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union for the period until 2030 and 2045".

Earlier, Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and President of Russia, proposed in his address to the Heads of the Member States to start preparing new long-term planning documents that would define the main vectors of integration interaction in the Union.

The draft Declaration is scheduled to be presented to the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in December.

Furthermore, the Heads of Government were informed about the progress of preparing a report on the EAEU functioning, which analyzes the results and achievements over a 10-year period. Earlier this initiative was put forward by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Next stage of development of EAEU common electric power market completed

The Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries approved the Rules for mutual trade in electric power, as well as the Rules for determining and allocating the capacity of interstate cross-sections. These are two of the four main rules that should be adopted in the Union for the successful functioning of the common electric power market.

The adoption of these documents completed the next stage in forming the legal framework for the functioning of the Union's common electric power market. According to Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission, adopting this package of rules is a serious step towards creating this market. The rules will make it possible to accelerate the preparation of centralized trading operators and the registrar to establish the necessary infrastructure ensuring the market operation.

The Commission and the Unions countries still have to carry out many activities to finalize the remaining rules for the functioning of the common electric power market and regulatory legal acts ensuring its proper operation.

 

Heads of Government of EAEU countries approved rules for selecting cooperation projects and providing them with financial support

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council approved the Regulation on selecting joint cooperation projects in industries and providing financial support for their implementation by the Eurasian Economic Union States.

The Regulation was elaborated in accordance with the instructions of the Heads of State and Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries and is a fundamental document of the new program of financial support for industrial cooperation in the Union.

"This mechanism is a breakthrough event on the way of integration development of the manufacturing industry, as for the first time a supranational financial instrument is formed to promote cooperation in the real economy," emphasized Artak Kamalyan, EEC Minister in charge of Industry and Agriculture. "The program of financial support for industrial cooperation turns a new page in developing multilateral cooperation and will contribute to further technological development of our countries. The new mechanism is designed to encourage the fulfillment of the accumulated potential for developing and strengthening the industrial potential, and to guarantee access, including for small economies, to developing and implementing new technological solutions, which will create prerequisites required for ramping up their own production potential and developing integration processes in the Eurasian space as a whole". 

The adopted Regulation determines the procedure and criteria for selecting projects, requirements to borrowers and financial organizations, the application procedure for participating in the mechanism, control and responsibility of each party for implementing cooperation projects.

The criteria for selecting projects include the fulfillment of several basic conditions. A cooperative project may be considered if its participants are enterprises of three or more Union States. According to the Regulation, the project must be aimed at achieving one or more significant results, for example, creating a new enterprise or its modernization, forming a value-added chain, boosting exports, increasing trade or investment. And entrepreneurs must implement it within five years. 

When it comes to quantitative indicators of financial support, the parties have so far agreed on the following: the subsidy amount is equal to the key (accounting) rate (100% of the key rate) of the national currency in which the project is financed, while the maximum subsidy amount for one project per year cannot exceed the equivalent of 350 mln Russian rubles. The maximum rate of a bank participating in the mechanism should not exceed the level of the key rate increased by 6.5%. As and when cooperative projects are received, the Commission will create their lists twice a year and prioritize the initiatives received according to a points system.

"We hope that the program to support cooperative projects will be launched next year. About 1.8 bln Russian rubles have already been allocated for this purpose in the Union's budget, and we are waiting for interesting project proposals for the full-fledged launch of the mechanism," Artak Kamalyan explained. 

EAEU technical regulation On Safety of Small Vessels amended

Changes to the technical regulation of the Eurasian Economic Union On the Safety of Small Vessels, introduced on October 20 by a decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council, clarify and refine certain provisions of the technical regulation, taking into account the cumulative experience of its application, and also ensure a uniform understanding and implementation of the requirements of this document in designing, manufacturing and assessing the conformity of products intended for release into circulation in the EAEU territory. The scope of application of the technical regulation is now clarified. The new edition contains Annex No. 1 specifying the list of products to which the technical regulation does not apply. The term “small vessel” was also clarified and definitions were given to the terms “airboat” and “jet ski”.

For a more precise understanding of technical regulation requirements, it is now determined what comes under the means of active recreation on the water. These are, for example, inflatable floating devices, with the exception of ships; towed devices (water skis, wakeboards, banana boats, swim rings, etc.), sailing and parachute equipment (iceboats, kiteboards, windsurfing boards, etc.) and others, including equipment for spearfishing and diving.

The amendments to the technical regulation shall come into effect after 180 calendar days have elapsed from the date of official publication of the EEC Council’s decision on making them.

EEC Council extended implementation period of Belarus-Russia experiment on navigation seals until July 1, 2024

It has been eight months of conducting a successful experiment to use navigation seals on timber and woodworking products placed under the export customs procedure in the Republic of Belarus and departing the territory of the Russian Federation. The experiment started on February 13, 2023. During that period, navigation seals were applied to more than 400 shipments of the specified products. The interim experiment results were already reviewed at the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council in the spring of 2023, when it was decided to extend the experiment until the end of this year.

In addition, the practical experience gained during the experiment was taken into account in preparing the Commission’s regulations necessary to begin the implementation of the Agreement on Using Navigation Seals for Monitoring Transportation in the Eurasian Economic Union dated April 19, 2022.

The Agreement is aimed at ensuring legal trade turnover in the EAEU via increased use of modern technical and technological solutions in arranging transportation in the Union's territory and at minimized application of customs and other types of state control measures with regard to shipment of goods (in transit, export and mutual trade).

As businesses are interested in continuing the said experiment, today the Commission's Council reached an agreement to extend it until July 1, 2024.

EAEU extended possibility of using simplified procedure for confirming origin of goods in preferential trade

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council decided to extend the validity period of the simplification associated with the procedure for providing documentary evidence of the origin of goods imported from partner countries of the Eurasian Economic Union under free trade agreements.

 This means using a copy of the certificate of origin to obtain tariff preferences (subject to the mandatory subsequent submission of the original document within six months). The corresponding possibility is provided for by Decision No. 85 of the Commission's Council dated May 19, 2022.

“The decision is aimed at maintaining the current format for submitting certificates to customs authorities, the benefits of which are noticeable by both the business community representatives and regulators,” explained Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade.

The decision shall come into effect after 30 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication and shall be applied until December 31, 2025.

EAEU Rules for registration and examination of medicines amended

The Eurasian Economic Union's Council updated the Rules for Registration and Examination of Medicines in the EAEU, taking into account the experience of their enforcement in the procedure for bringing marketing authorization applications for medicinal products into compliance with the requirements of the Union and registration of medicinal products. The rules for issuing indefinite marketing authorizations for medicines within the framework of the relevant procedure are now adjusted.

Additional safety measures were established for the use of medicinal products, which can be introduced at the request of the authorized authority.

Duplication of documents submitted for registration or control and inspection procedures when assessing the procedure and quality of clinical trials is excluded.

The decision will allow to optimize administrative procedures related to bringing marketing authorization applications for medicines into compliance with the EAEU requirements. Ultimately, this will help ensure the availability of medicines to the population.

Outcomes of EEC Council on September 27, 2023

At the initiative of the Russian party, the increased threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons has been extended for another six months.

Therefore, until April 1, 2024, the threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons will be 1,000 euros and 31 kg for goods transported by a carrier or in postal items as well as goods brought in as luggage by all means of transport, except by air, or on foot.

The EEC Council adopted a decision to establish uniform rules for marking medicinal products, soft drinks, juice, as well as phones and laptops in the EAEU countries. The Member States will independently determine the introduction date and the procedure for marking products with identification means in their territory, notifying the EEC no later than six months before the start of these activities. 

The EEC Council approved the development plan for the EAEU Integrated Information System (EAEU IIS) for 2024. In particular, a decision was adopted to significantly increase the financing of this sphere. 

During the meeting of the Commission's Council it was reported on the success of the experiment on using navigation seals in transportation within mutual trade between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation. The experiment results confirmed the successful integration of information systems of authorized sealing operators and the technological readiness of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation to implement the Agreement on using navigation seals for monitoring traffic in the Eurasian Economic Union. 

The EEC Council approved a list of electronic services for VAT taxation purposes. The list includes 14 services the rendering of which is carried out via information networks, including the Internet, and is impossible without using information technologies. According to the new rules, in case an electronic service is purchased cross-border in the EAEU territory from the approved list, VAT will be taxed at the location of the purchaser of such a service. 

The procedure for assessing the scientific and technical level of the EAEU technical regulations and lists of standards used with them was approved. The document is aimed at bringing the requirements to products established in technical regulations in line with the modern development of science, technology, production and testing facilities. 

The Agreement on administrative cooperation in weather forecasting and meteorological services sector was approved. The document was elaborated by the Commission to ensure efficient information exchange between the EAEU countries' regulators in the field of functioning of meteorological services in the single market mode. 

Amendments to the Technical Regulation “On safety of meat and meat products” were adopted. The amendments establish permissible limits for deviations of the actual values of protein, fat, carbohydrates, and calorie content from the values indicated in the marking, with due regard to special aspects of manufacturing these products. 

The EEC Council instructed the Board to change the effective date for a number of Board's decisions from October 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024 at its next meeting. These decisions regulate customs legal relations concerning the completion of transit declarations, declarations for goods, as well as the application of structures and formats of individual customs documents. The issue was considered by the Commission's Council at the initiative of the EAEU Member States' customs authorities. 

The EEC Council approved draft rules for determining and allocating the capacity of interstate cross-sections and rules for mutual trade in electric power in the Union's common electric power market. 

The EEC Council approved amendments to the Procedure for interaction between authorized bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union countries when introducing temporary sanitary, veterinary-sanitary and phytosanitary quarantine measures. The document was supplemented with definitions of the concepts "temporary veterinary-sanitary measures", "temporary sanitary measures", as well as the rationale for their introduction and content. The amendments made will enable the countries' authorized bodies to exclude different interpretations of concepts and will make it possible to apply in practice unified interaction approaches when introducing temporary measures. 

The next meeting of the EEC Council will be held in the latter half of October.

EEC approved list of electronic services for VAT taxation purposes

The meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved the list of electronic services for VAT taxation purposes. 

The list includes 14 services the rendering of which is carried out via information networks, including the Internet, and is impossible without using information technologies. According to the new rules, in the case an electronic service is purchased cross-border in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union from the approved list, VAT will be taxed at the location of the purchaser of such a service. 

According to Bakytzhan Sagintaev, EEC Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy, the approval by the EEC Council of the electronic services list is the final stage of the comprehensive work carried out in the EAEU to regulate the procedure for VAT taxation of electronic services. He reminded that on December 9, 2022 at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Heads of State signed a basic Protocol regulating the procedure for administering VAT when rendering electronic services. 

"Today a specific list of services covered by the previously signed Protocol was approved. Therefore, a transparent and predictable environment for Internet trade in services has been ensured in the Union's territory," Bakytzhan Sagintaev emphasized. "I would like to note that the sphere of electronic commerce is constantly developing, including new types of electronic services, so the Commission will continue to monitor this sphere in order to expand, if necessary, the list of electronic services for VAT taxation purposes". 

Amendments to Technical Regulation "On safety of meat and meat products" adopted

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved the development plan of the Eurasian Economic Union's Integrated Information System (EAEU IIS) for 2024. Besides, a decision was adopted to significantly increase the financing of this sphere. 

The EAEU IIS is a key tool for ensuring the Union's efficient functioning. The system makes it possible to automate and simplify the processes of information exchange between the Member States, which contributes to closer economic cooperation and integration.

The approved development plan of the EAEU IIS envisages several key areas:

- to improve and upgrade the system's technological base;

- to develop and implement new functionalities;

- to launch legally significant interstate interaction using electronic digital signature;

- to transfer to a digital platform by creating a subsystem for integration of digital platforms and services;

- to upgrade the system's security and reliability;

 

- to expand the scope of application of the EAEU IIS, including to create new services for business and public authorities.

Investments in developing the EAEU IIS will enable accelerating its modernization and functionality expansion, which will ultimately result in improving the quality and efficiency of work within the entire Union.

The increased financing and approval of the EAEU IIS development plan confirms the Member States' commitment to deepening integration and cooperation. The plan is expected to significantly improve the system's functionality and performance, which will provide additional benefits to the EAEU States.

 

The works within the IIS development plan are implemented in accordance with the strategic documents adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Union countries.

Threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons to be 1,000 euros and 31 kg for goods until April 1, 2024

At the initiative of the Russian party, the increased threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons has been extended for another six months. 

Therefore, until April 1, 2024, the threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons will be 1,000 euros and 31 kg for goods transported by a carrier or in postal items as well as goods brought in as luggage by all means of transport, except by air, or on foot.

If the goods value exceeds this amount or its weight is more than 31 kg, a duty must be paid in the amount of: 

– 15% of the value of goods transported by a carrier or in postal items, but no less than 2 euros per 1 kg in terms of exceeding the norms;

– 30% of the value of goods brought in as a luggage, but no less than 4 euros per 1 kg.

It bears reminding that the threshold was raised on a provisional basis in 2022 to support citizens who order goods for personal use from foreign online shops. In March, it was extended until October 1 this year. Previously, the threshold was 200 euros for goods transported by a carrier or in postal items and 500 euros for goods brought in as a luggage by all means of transport, except by air, or on foot. 

The threshold for duty-free importation by plane remains at 10 thousand euros and 50 kg.

The decision shall come into effect after 10 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its publication and shall apply to legal relations arisen since October 1 this year.

EEC Council Members approved Agreement on administrative cooperation in weather forecasting and meteorological services sector

The document was elaborated by the Eurasian Economic Commission to ensure efficient information exchange between regulators of the Eurasian Economic Union countries in the field of functioning of meteorological services in the single market mode.

   

The draft Agreement defines a list of information to which free access is provided on the EAEU countries' official websites. The List includes information on current regulatory legal acts of the Member States affecting the weather forecasting and meteorology activities, as well as on the participants in the single market for meteorological services. Besides, the document defines a list of information to be exchanged between the parties - on termination, suspension, or revocation of relevant permits issued to participants in the single market for meteorological services.

 The Agreement will enable the regulators to exchange information between each other and prevent violations in a prompt manner. They will be able to request and receive necessary information from other countries' competent authorities, including on permits issued, participants in the meteorological services market, etc.

These mechanisms will promote the development of the EAEU countries' meteorological services market.

The Agreement has been sent to the Union countries for internal legal procedures required for its signing.

Two new industries included in Eurasian rules for participation in public procurement

On September 26, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council agreed on new production conditions for six commodity items of four industries to be included in Annex No. 1 to the Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods (COG) for public procurement purposes.

According to Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, the Commission, jointly with the authorized bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union countries and business representatives, continues to fill the Eurasian COG Rules with new production conditions and commodity items.

"Today the Vice Prime Ministers of the Eurasian Economic Union countries agreed on new production conditions for goods to participate in the Eurasian procurement. Now their suppliers and manufacturers have equal access to public procurement, regardless of residency. I would like to note that the Council's decision contains two new industries for which the Eurasian five countries had no agreed requirements before. These are “Heavy Engineering” and “Measuring Instruments,” the Minister noted.

 

 

Nowadays, the Rules cover more than 700 product names.

Today's decision supplements the "Special Machine Engineering" sector with production conditions for vehicles designed for transporting food grade liquids. The "Heavy Engineering" sector is now represented by two headings (belt elevators and other machines for lifting, handling, loading or unloading). The "Measuring Instruments" section includes instruments and apparatus for physical and chemical analysis, detection or measurement of ionizing measurements, and automatic regulation/control.

 

Furthermore, at the initiative of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it was agreed to include the production conditions for pipes, tubes and hoses of the "Chemical Industry" sector in the COG Rules.

EAEU unifies marking rules for medicines, soft drinks, juice, as well as phones and laptops

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council considered a set of initiative proposals of the Eurasian Economic Union countries and decided to establish uniform rules for marking medicinal products, soft drinks, juice, as well as phones and laptops in the EAEU States. 

According to the adopted documents, the Member States will independently determine the introduction date and the procedure for marking products with identification means in their territory, notifying the EEC no later than six months before the start of these activities.

Therefore, in all cases, the recognition of identification means of other States formed in accordance with the unified requirements will be guaranteed in each of the EAEU countries. Along with that, due to the special aspects of the marking system for medicinal products in the Kyrgyz Republic, the Commission's Council provided for an exception enabling to apply requirements to the means of identification that differ from the adopted decision. 

Besides, in view of the positions of the Union Member States, the decisions separately noted the lack of intentions of some countries to introduce marking at the current stage. For example, it is the Republic of Armenia for medicines, the Republic of Kazakhstan for soft drinks and juices, and the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic for laptops and telephones.

"The Commission has adopted fundamental decisions aimed at ensuring one of the EAEU basic freedoms. Owing to the arrangements reached, it will be possible to create conditions for unhindered movement of goods across the Union and prevent the emergence of barriers in the internal market," emphasized Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade.

Procedure for assessing scientific and technical level of EAEU technical regulations and lists of standards used with them approved

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved the procedure for conducting mandatory periodic assessment of the scientific and technical level of the Eurasian Economic Union's technical regulations and lists of standards used with them that have come into effect. 

The key issue to be addressed by the assessment procedure is to bring the requirements to products set out in the Union's technical regulations into line with the modern development of science, technology, production and testing facilities.

The assessment procedure establishes the stages and procedures for organizing, planning and conducting the assessment of the EAEU technical regulations' scientific and technical level as well as for reviewing the results of this assessment.

The assessment procedure is aimed at systematic work on the timely updating of requirements to products established in technical regulations and standards used with them, based on the analysis of relevance, validity and prospects of such requirements; and creating conditions for improving the competitiveness and export potential of products within the scope of application of relevant technical regulations of the Union.

EEC Council approved development plan of EAEU Integrated Information System for 2024

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved the development plan of the Eurasian Economic Union's Integrated Information System (EAEU IIS) for 2024. Besides, a decision was adopted to significantly increase the financing of this sphere. 

The EAEU IIS is a key tool for ensuring the Union's efficient functioning. The system makes it possible to automate and simplify the processes of information exchange between the Member States, which contributes to closer economic cooperation and integration.

The approved development plan of the EAEU IIS envisages several key areas:

- to improve and upgrade the system's technological base;

- to develop and implement new functionalities;

- to launch legally significant interstate interaction using electronic digital signature;

- to transfer to a digital platform by creating a subsystem for integration of digital platforms and services;

- to upgrade the system's security and reliability; 

- to expand the scope of application of the EAEU IIS, including to create new services for business and public authorities.

Investments in developing the EAEU IIS will enable accelerating its modernization and functionality expansion, which will ultimately result in improving the quality and efficiency of work within the entire Union.

The increased financing and approval of the EAEU IIS development plan confirms the Member States' commitment to deepening integration and cooperation. The plan is expected to significantly improve the system's functionality and performance, which will provide additional benefits to the EAEU States. 

The works within the IIS development plan are implemented in accordance with the strategic documents adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the Union countries.

Lighting equipment for agricultural and forestry tractors can be manufactured and imported according to new requirements

The Commission's Council amended the Customs Union's Technical Regulation "On safety of agricultural and forestry tractors and their trailers" (TR CU 031/2012) by supplementing it with the current requirements and test methods for lighting and retro-reflective devices established by the UN Regulations:

No. 148 "Uniform provisions concerning the approval of light-signaling devices (lamps) for power-driven vehicles and their trailers";

No. 149 "Uniform provisions concerning the approval of road illumination devices (lamps) and systems for power-driven vehicles";

No. 150 "Uniform provisions concerning the approval of retro-reflective devices and markings for power-driven vehicles and their trailers". 

These amendments will make it possible to manufacture (import) and assess the conformity of lighting equipment and retro-reflective devices for tractors or their trailers in accordance with both the current and new requirements.

The relevant amendments shall come into effect after 10 days have elapsed from the date of their official publication.

 

EAEU signed Agreement on mutual recognition of bank guarantees for public procurement

During the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council held on August 29, the Deputy Heads of Government of the EAEU States signed an Agreement on mutual recognition of bank guarantees for public procurement.

The Agreement eliminates one of the restrictions in the EAEU internal market, i.e. the lack of mutual recognition of bank guarantees for public procurement in the Union countries.

The Agreement defines uniform requirements for banks whose guarantees will be recognized in other Union States for public procurement, approaches to compiling a list of such banks, and the procedure for maintaining a register of issued bank guarantees.

Along with that, the list of such banks and the register of bank guarantees will be maintained if provided for by the legislation of the Customer State.

“Therefore, a potential supplier from any EAEU State will be able to provide a customer of another Union country with a guarantee of its "home" bank, that meets the established criteria, and this guarantee must be accepted by the customer. If such criteria are not provided for by the legislation of the customer's country, then bank guarantees are freely recognized,” Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, commented on the provisions of the Agreement.

 Simultaneously with signing the Agreement, the Council approved the criteria to be met by the banks of the EAEU States issuing bank guarantees, as well as the procedure for information exchange by the authorized bodies on including and excluding banks from the list of guarantors.

Outcomes of EEC Council on August 29, 2023

A meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council chaired by Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, involving members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board, was held on August 29 in Moscow. The agenda included more than 40 issues.

During the meeting, the Deputy Heads of Government of the EAEU States signed the Agreement on mutual recognition of bank guarantees in public procurement. The Agreement eliminates one of the restrictions in the EAEU internal market, i.e. the lack of mutual recognition of bank guarantees for public procurement in the Union countries. The document defines uniform requirements for banks whose guarantees will be recognized in other Union States for public procurement, approaches to compiling a list of such banks, and the procedure for maintaining a register of issued bank guarantees. 

The EEC Council adopted a decision to zero out the import customs duty on certain types of fabrics made from flat or similar yarns of polyethylene or polypropylene (code 5407 20 190 0 of the CN FEA of the EAEU). The measure will be valid for two years, currently the duty rate is set at 8%.

The EEC Council adopted a decision to amend the Technical Regulation "Safety requirements to food additives, flavorings and technological aids". 

The Commission's Council approved the composition of information that a navigation seal should contain for the period of traffic monitoring. The list includes information from export and import licenses, authorization documents for the import, export and transit of certain goods, information from veterinary and phytosanitary certificates, and others. Unified measures for securing information contained in navigation seals were defined as well. The use of navigation seals will make it possible to ensure the transparency of traffic and minimize control measures.

At its meeting, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved a recommendation to promote brands of jewelry manufacturers from the Eurasian Economic Union States to third country markets.

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council amended the EAEU Technical Regulation "On safety of oil prepared for transportation and (or) use" by supplementing it with a unified form of an oil passport and rules for filling it out, the availability of which is stipulated by the technical regulation. 

The Commission's Council amended the Customs Union's Technical Regulation "On safety of agricultural and forestry tractors and their trailers".

It is planned that the next meeting of the EEC Council will be held on September 27.

 

Unified form of oil passport and rules for filling it out approved

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council amended the EAEU Technical Regulation "On safety of oil prepared for transportation and (or) use" (TR EAEU 045/2017) by supplementing it with a unified form of an oil passport and rules for filling it out, the availability of which is stipulated by the technical regulation.

Certain provisions of the technical regulation relating to the passport form were clarified for the uniform application of its requirements.

In order to ensure the transition to the unified form, passports issued for the crude oil run before enacting this decision, i.e. not according to the unified form, shall be valid until November 1, 2023.

Besides, the amendments envisage the frequency of oil testing to be established in the standards included in the list of standards for methods to the technical regulation.

The adopted amendments ensure the formation of unified approaches to the release and circulation of oil in the Union's territory, including with regard to the execution of documentation.

Technical regulation on safety of food additives, flavorings and technological aids amended

At its meeting held on August 29, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council adopted a decision to amend the Technical Regulation "Safety requirements to food additives, flavorings and technological aids". 

The amendments were elaborated by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with the EAEU legislation in terms of requirements to food additives, as well as in terms of the content of phosphoric acid and food-grade phosphates in meat products. Besides, amendments to international and European legislation on safety of food additives, flavorings and technological aids, including Codex Alimentarius, were taken into account. 

The amendments are a comprehensive document, they provide for the updating of five sections of the technical regulation and 29 annexes thereto, including lists of food additives permitted for food products and flavoring substances permitted for flavorings.

In particular, the amendments envisage:

- removing 19 items from the list of authorized food additives that have lost their relevance, and adding 6 items;

- extending the list of enzyme preparations and the list of flavoring substances;

- adjusting the scope of application of certain food additives and revising the names of food product groups, including with due regard to current nomenclature. 

The EEC Council's Decision shall come into effect after 180 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication. In order to ensure a smooth transition of the business community to the new requirements, a draft decision of the Commission's Board on the procedure for enacting these amendments has been prepared, which provides for 18 months for a smooth transition to the new requirements and 36 months for the transition with respect to marking requirements. The document will be considered and adopted in due course.

EAEU zeroed import duties on fabrics for carpet production for two years

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council adopted a decision to zero out the import customs duty on certain types of fabrics made from flat or similar yarns of polyethylene or polypropylene (code 5407 20 190 0 of the CN FEA of the EAEU). The measure will be valid for two years, currently the duty rate is set at 8%.

“The decision is aimed at supporting manufacturers of carpets and carpet products in the Eurasian Economic Union countries and will help reduce cost price, improve profitability and competitiveness, as well as increase output and supplies to the internal market and exports,” noted Natalia Samoilova, Deputy Director of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Tariff and Non-Tariff Customs Regulation Department.

 

 Moreover, the customs tariff regulation measure in question will make it possible to mitigate the negative impact of sanctions pressure on the economies of a number of the EAEU States.

The decision shall come into effect after 10 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

 

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting held in Armenia

An extraordinary meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was held on August 24-25 in Tsaghkadzor (Armenia).

The meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was attended by the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries - Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the EIC and Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Akylbek Japarov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The EIC members discussed issues of deepening integration processes within the EAEU and strategic vectors of the Union's development in the medium and long term. Earlier, in his address to the Heads of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and President of the Russian Federation, proposed to start developing the EAEU long-term strategy in 2023.

The next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will take place on October 26-27 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan).

Outcomes of EEC Council on June 23

The EEC Council has approved a report on implementing the action plan for harmonizing the financial market legislation. Measures to harmonize the legislation are implemented in three sectors of the financial market: banking, insurance, and securities market. The harmonization plan was adopted in November 2020.

 The EEC Council has approved the draft Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Union Customs Code in terms of regulating foreign e-commerce. A new legal institution – an e-commerce operator – is created, which will ensure the logistics of operations with such goods, as well as interaction with Internet sites and customs authorities in an integrated manner.

The Vice Prime Ministers of the EAEU countries have agreed on new production conditions to the rules for determining the country of origin of goods for public procurement. According to the decision, six commodity items of the “Power engineering, electrical and cable industry” sector will be allowed to participate in public procurement based on information from the Eurasian Register of Industrial Goods being formed by the Commission.

The maximum levels for residues of veterinary medicines that may be contained in food products of animal origin have been established. 

Amendments have been made to the certificate of conformity of production to the requirements of the EAEU Good Manufacturing Practice.

The EEC Council has approved the Procedure for coordinating standardization work in the EAEU.

The EEC Council approved amendments to the Plan for developing the EAEU technical regulations. It was supplemented by two new paragraphs amending the Technical Regulations "On requirements for energy efficiency of power-consuming devices" and "On requirements for fire safety and fire extinguishing means".

EEC Council approved Procedure for coordinating standardization work in EAEU

The procedure developed in accordance with the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025 determines the procedures for ensuring interaction between the governing bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union countries in a number of areas.

These include planning the development of interstate standards required to apply and meet the requirements of technical regulations, preparation and approval of programs for their development; coordination of national standardization bodies in developing (amending, revising) interstate standards envisaged by the programs; interaction in developing and adopting standards for products for which technical regulations have not yet been adopted, but which are included in the single list of products subject to the EAEU mandatory requirements (for example, high voltage equipment, service and non-military weapons, plant protection products and others).

National authorities will also cooperate on enacting and applying interstate standards, national standards and measurement methods required to apply and implement technical regulation requirements; developing standards related to ensuring cooperation between the Member States in manufacturing industry, transport, energy and other fields; and coordinating the development of standardization in the field of technical regulation.

Applying the provisions of the Procedure will contribute to developing standardization in the EAEU, systematic planning of work to ensure the application of the Union's technical regulations, and the application of progressive international and regional standards.

Maximum levels for residues of veterinary medicines that may be contained in food products of animal origin established

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has adopted amendments to the Union's Technical Regulation "On food safety" concerning the establishment of maximum levels for residues of veterinary medicines that may be contained in food products of animal origin. This is the result of almost four years of work of the Commission and all authorized bodies of the countries.

The amendment establishes maximum levels of residues for 75 veterinary medicines (pharmacologically active substances) in unprocessed and processed food products of animal origin, which is a new conceptual direction that has no analogues in international practice. It also establishes some requirements to control the residues of veterinary medicines not named in the technical regulations and (or) unregistered in the EAEU States' territories, which is particularly important for the control of imported products.

Implementing the adopted amendments will make it possible to improve the safety of food products put into circulation in the Union's customs territory, and will contribute to resolving the problem of different interpretation of the results obtained by the control (supervision) bodies in determining the residues of veterinary medicines in food products of animal origin and the related prohibitions on mutual deliveries.

Treaty on EAEU Customs Code amended to regulate foreign e-commerce

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved a draft Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union in terms of regulating foreign e-commerce. 

The draft Protocol envisages new regulations for goods purchased by citizens using Internet resources — special aspects of temporary storage, customs declaring procedure, application of customs payments, and the possibility of shipment from customs (“bonded”) warehouses. 

A new legal institution – an e-commerce operator – is created, which will ensure the logistics of operations with such goods, as well as interaction with Internet sites and customs authorities in an integrated manner.

Implementing this Protocol will make it possible to regulate the customs clearance of this category of goods, to increase the speed of cargo handling and to improve the efficiency of customs control.

The EEC Council instructed to send the draft Protocol to the Union countries for internal legal procedures required for its signing.

EAEU continues to harmonize financial market legislation

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved a report on implementing the action plan for harmonizing the financial market legislation. 

Measures to harmonize legislation are implemented in three sectors of the financial market (banking, insurance, and securities market) in accordance with the Harmonization Plan adopted in November 2020.

In general, the work is in line with the Harmonization Plan, and the activities are carried out in parallel. According to this plan, the work on legal harmonization should be completed in the banking and insurance sectors in 2025, and in the securities market sector in 2029. 

As part of the work done, a number of draft international agreements have been prepared to ensure transboundary admission of securities and brokers/dealers to participate in stock trading, as well as to introduce the institution of a standardized license.

Vice Prime Ministers of EAEU countries agreed on new production conditions to Rules for determining country of origin of goods for public procurement

On 23 June, Annex No. 1 to the Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods for public procurement purposes (the COG Rules) was amended by decision of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council. 

The issue was included in the agenda of the Commission's Council at the initiative of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the decision, six commodity items of the “Power engineering, electrical and cable industry” sector will be allowed to participate in public procurement based on information from the Eurasian Register of Industrial Goods being formed by the Commission. Products may be included in the register if they comply with the production conditions agreed upon by representatives of the relevant public authorities and the countries' business community.

"Given today's decision, the COG Rules cover the production conditions for 448 commodity items. The list of products from the "grey zone" is gradually reduced. Nowadays, it only includes 27 commodity items", commented Bakhyt Sultanov, Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation.

Amendments made to certificate of production conformity with requirements of EAEU Good Manufacturing Practice

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved amendments to the form of the certificate of conformity of production with the requirements of the Eurasian Economic Union's Good Manufacturing Practice in the form of a declaration of conformity comparing the requirements of the EAEU Good Manufacturing Practice and similar Rules of the European Union. This enables the Caribbean, Asian and Pacific countries to apply these certificates without the need for third-country pharmaceutical inspectors to re-inspect the Union States' manufacturers. 

The adoption of such amendments will ensure the export of pharmaceutical products by the Member States' manufacturers to third countries.

Outcomes of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting on June 7-8, 2023

Following the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on June 7-8 in Sochi, 22 issues were considered and 14 documents were signed.

The meeting was attended by the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries: Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation; Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus; Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Akylbek Japarov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic; Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission; Heads of Government of the EAEU Observer States: Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba; other invitees are Ali Asadov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Kohir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan; Hojamyrat Geldimyradov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan.

At the meeting of the Intergovernmental Council, an Agreement on mutual recognition of academic degrees in the EAEU States was signed. After the effective date of this Agreement, the EAEU countries' citizens who have national higher degree certificates will be able to find employment in another Member State without going through a lengthy nostrification procedure, which will increase the mobility of highly skilled specialists and will contribute to developing scientific cooperation.

The Heads of Government of the EAEU countries were presented with information on the progress in removing barriers in the Union's internal market. The rate of their removal has doubled owing to the mediation approach.

The Intergovernmental Council approved plans to develop transport infrastructure in the territories of the EAEU States in the East-West and North-South directions, including as part of coupling with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.

The EAEU proceeds to the second stage of developing electronic document flow at sea checkpoints, a relevant plan for 2023-2025 has been approved.

The Heads of Government of the EAEU countries instructed to develop approaches to regulating the climate agenda, envisaging the implementation of cooperative climate projects, as well as the promotion of low-carbon development. The relevant approaches are planned to be submitted to the Union's governing bodies for consideration in H1 of 2024.

The annual report on the state of competition in transboundary markets and measures taken to restrain violations of the general competition rules in them for 2022 was approved. Last year, the EEC considered 26 applications for violations of competition rules, and conducted 12 antitrust investigations, 7 of which were initiated by the Commission.

The members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council reviewed the progress of experiments on using electronic navigation seals. Their results will be summarized later this year.

The meeting approved a report on further development of the EAEU integrated information system and the Union's digital agenda. The EAEU digitalization will be based on the integrated system, which will serve as the basis for implementing digital projects.

The Heads of Government were presented with a report on monitoring the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) of the EEC draft decisions in 2022. The share of positive RIA determinations reached the highest level since 2015 – 97%.

A decision was adopted on the operator of centralized electric power trade on a day-ahead basis in the EAEU common electric power market.

Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Council was reported on the progress made on amending the technical regulation on food safety in terms of establishing the maximum residue levels of veterinary medicinal products that can be contained in food products of animal origin. The draft amendments establish the maximum residue level for 75 veterinary medicines in both unprocessed and processed food products of animal origin registered in the Member States, as well as set requirements to control residues of veterinary medicines not named or not registered in the territories of the Union Member States. The draft amendments and a set of documents thereto have been finalized, agreed upon by all countries, approved by the EEC Board and will now be submitted to the meeting of the Commission's Council.

Mutual recognition of academic degrees to be ensured within EAEU

An Agreement on mutual recognition of academic degrees in the Eurasian Economic Union Member States was signed at the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on June 8 in Sochi.

   

“After effective date of the Agreement, the EAEU countries' workers who have national higher degree certificates will be able to find employment in another EAEU Member State without going through a lengthy nostrification procedure. This will increase the mobility of highly skilled specialists and will contribute to developing scientific cooperation in the EAEU,” noted Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The Agreement will come into effect after all the EAEU States complete relevant internal legal procedures.

EAEU doubled rates of barrier removal owing to mediation approach

At a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on June 8 in Sochi, the Heads of Government were presented with information on the progress in removing barriers in the Eurasian Economic Union's internal market.

At present, out of eleven barriers contained in the register of obstacles, four barriers have already been removed and procedures are underway for another four to be recognized as removed. As for the remaining three barriers, relevant regulatory legal acts have been prepared or are in a high degree of preparation in the countries.

The work has been strengthened by the approaches laid down in the updated version of the Methodology for qualifying obstacles in the Eurasian Economic Union's internal market and recognising barriers and restrictions as eliminated, adopted by the EEC Board. The innovations include optimized terms and improved mechanism for considering obstacles, updated procedures for recognizing them as eliminated, as well as a mediation procedure for settling situations related to the signs of barriers existing in the Union's internal market.

“Applying mediation approaches, the so-called soft law, and strengthening interaction with the Member States has doubled the rate of barrier removal,” noted Varos Simonyan, Minister in charge of Internal Markets, Informatization, Information and Communication Technologies of the Eurasian Economic Commission. “Owing to the mediation procedures, this year we have already removed five obstacles before qualifying them as barriers, a national act has been adopted to remove one obstacle, and work is underway on preparing and adopting national acts to remove seven obstacles”.

The Intergovernmental Council highly appreciated the new approach to removing obstacles, and the work will be continued.

Experimental results on using navigational seals to be summarized before year-end 2023

The members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council reviewed the progress of experiments on using electronic navigation seals. The results will be summarized later this year.

On June 6 this year, an experiment was launched on using navigation seals for goods of mutual trade transported by rail and/or by road. The new project involves the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.

The experiment is conducted to prepare the parties and participants in foreign economic activities for the practical implementation of the Agreement on using navigation seals for monitoring traffic in the Eurasian Economic Union, which came into effect on April 3 this year.

 Carriers participate in the experiment on a voluntary and free-of-charge basis.

Furthermore, since 13 February this year, an experiment has been underway to use navigation seals on lumber and woodworking products placed under the export customs procedure in the Republic of Belarus and departing the territory of the Russian Federation. Due to the successful implementation of this experiment, its duration originally scheduled until June 30, 2023, has been extended until the end of the year.

Adjustment of the technology for using navigation seals within the ongoing experiments will make it possible to smoothly start using navigation seals for certain categories of goods (alcohol, tobacco and sanctioned products) throughout the entire territory of the Eurasian Economic Union as early as January 2024.

The Eurasian Economic Commission provides the parties with the necessary operational assistance on issues arising in the organization of experiments on an ongoing basis.

Bakytzhan Sagintaev: "The share of positive RIA determinations reached the highest level of 97% in 2022”

The Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries were presented with a report on monitoring the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s draft decisions in 2022.

Growing regulatory activities of the Commission are evidenced by a significant increase in the number of projects that underwent the RIA procedure in 2022: by 32% on projects that were publicly discussed and by 49% on projects that received RIA determinations.

A 20% increase was registered in the level of the Union business and expert community involvement. Out of all business proposals received, 50% were taken into account when finalizing draft decisions of the Commission.

“Last year, the share of positive RIA determinations reached the highest level (since 2015) - 97%,” noted Bakytzhan Sagintaev, EEC Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy.

In order to further improve the tool for assessing the impact of regulation on the business environment as part of implementing the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025, a draft amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission has been prepared to establish procedures for assessing the actual impact of the Commission’s decisions and the RIA in relation to draft international treaties within the EAEU. These procedures are scheduled to be introduced from 2024.

For reference

The RIA is a procedure for assessing the impact of the EEC draft decisions on the business environment; when performing the RIA procedure, opinions of the Union countries’ business community are taken into account.

The RIA procedure consists of two stages: current assessment, i.e. public discussion of the EEC's draft decision on the Union's website for at least 30 calendar days and final assessment, i.e. preparation of the RIA statement by a specially created Working Group of the EEC.

EAEU proceeds to the second stage of developing electronic document flow at sea checkpoints

At its meeting held on June 8 in Sochi, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council approved a plan to develop electronic document flow at the Eurasian Economic Union States' sea checkpoints for 2023-2025.

The Union law and national strategies of the Member States, international experience and the current situation regarding the application of digital technologies at sea checkpoints were analyzed following the first stage of developing the electronic document flow at the States' sea checkpoints in 2021-2022.

The Plan for 2023-2025 includes five measures based on the first stage results. For example, it is planned to completely switch to the electronic document flow and the use of digital technologies at sea checkpoints and to harmonize data within the electronic document flow.

“Abandoning the use of paper documents will create conditions for seamless transportation through seaports, which in turn will improve the efficiency of transport corridors and routes,” noted Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

EIC decided on operator of centralized electric power trade on a day-ahead basis in EAEU common electric power market

At a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on June 8 in Sochi, the Heads of Government agreed on the operator of centralized electric power trade on a day-ahead basis in the common electric power market (CEPM) of the Eurasian Economic Union. This operator will be Administrator of the Trading System of the Wholesale Electric Power Market, JSC (Russian Federation).

The operator is entrusted with the task of organizing "day ahead" trading in the EAEU CEPM. This is a specific mechanism for electric power spot trading, whereby the supply price of a given energy resource is determined for each hour of the next day using exchange mechanisms.

“Day-ahead trading makes it possible to determine the price indicators of electric power that are used in determining electric power prices in long-term contracts, as well as to improve the planning of electric power facilities, which increases the reliability of power supply to the economy and the population,” noted Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Furthermore, the operator will be instructed to perform registration functions in the common electric power market and determine the free capacity of interstate power transmission lines.

Now the EEC Council will have to adopt relevant disposition.

At the same time, the EIC members agreed to broaden the powers of the Council of Heads of Authorized Energy Authorities of the EAEU Member States. The relevant ministers will have to monitor the day-ahead operator's activities in the EAEU common electric power market to ensure non-discriminatory conditions for all market participants.

For reference

Earlier, by Disposition No. 48 of the EEC Council dated November 25, 2022, Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange JSC, Kazakhstan Operator of the Electricity and Capacity Market JSC and Saint-Petersburg International Commodity Exchange JSC were determined as operators of the centralized electric power trade under fixed-term contracts in the EAEU CEPM. These organizations have already started preparing their trading systems to organize electric power trading under fixed-term contracts in the EAEU CEPM.

Heads of Government of EAEU countries instructed to develop approaches to regulating climate agenda issues

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Sochi considered implementing the First Package of Measures (Road Map) for cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union countries within the climate agenda.

As part of this work, the Eurasian Economic Commission has prepared a comprehensive report analysing the national legislation of the Member States and the EAEU main trading partners in the field of low-carbon development.

Based on the conclusions of this document, the Heads of Government of the Union countries instructed to develop approaches to regulating the climate agenda within the EAEU, envisaging the implementation of cooperative climate projects, as well as the promotion of low-carbon development.

“In particular, this may include creating conditions for the circulation of cooperative climate project results by interested Member States and third parties, with due regard to international trends. It is also possible to form coordinated approaches to national systems for accrediting validation and verification bodies in the field of climate protection based on the best international practices and the experience of key trading partners,” noted Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade.

Besides, as part of these approaches, proposals will be developed to avoid restrictions and barriers caused by various climate regulations of the Member States, including coordination and exchange of information on plans for decarbonizing the economies.

The relevant approaches are planned to be submitted to the Union's governing bodies for consideration in H1 of 2024.

For reference

The First Package of Measures (Road Map) for cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union Member States within the climate agenda, adopted at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on October 21, 2022, was prepared by the High-Level Working Group on developing proposals for converging the Union Member States’ positions established pursuant to the EIC Disposition No. 10 dated August 20, 2021.

Heads of Government approved Annual Report on the state of competition in EAEU transboundary markets for 2022

Disposition of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council approved the Annual Report on the state of competition in transboundary markets and measures taken to restrain violations of the general competition rules therein for 2022.

Implementing antitrust response measures, last year the Eurasian Economic Commission considered 26 applications for violations of competition rules, and conducted 12 antitrust investigations, 7 of which were initiated by the Commission. They covered the market of services rendered by testing laboratories, and markets for certain types of seeds, paper, and the sale of cars.

13 cases were considered, 3 of which were initiated for failure by economic entities of the Eurasian Economic Union countries to provide information requested by the EEC as part of ongoing investigations.

Following the completed cases, the Commission's Board adopted 5 decisions. In three of them, economic entities from the EAEU countries were fined and directed to eliminate anti-competitive practices, and in two of them, decisions were adopted on the absence of violations.

In 2022, the Commission actively applied “soft law” instruments – warning and caution, enabling to restore competition in transboundary markets without severe penalties. 

“Using the warning, we were able to restore competition in eight transboundary markets. These include markets for tea (Greenfield, TESS trademarks), software (an application for tracking minors), fermented milk drinks (Imunele trademark), cosmetic products and others,” noted Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, commenting on the report.

The Minister also said that in order to prevent possible violations, the Commission had issued 9 warnings to the heads of companies last year (in medical and tourism services, rice, plastics, cotton products, beer products, car sales) for statements in the media that could lead to distortion or disruption of competition.

As part of implementing the requirements of the Treaty on the EAEU, the countries sent six notifications to the Commission on the introduction of state price regulation for certain types of goods. In accordance with the current EEC procedure, five consultations were held to establish the grounds for introducing and extending state price regulation. No restrictions on competition in the Union's transboundary markets have been identified by the Commission as a result of price regulation measures introduced by individual countries.

Work continues to develop international cooperation between the EEC and supranational and regional organizations empowered in the field of competition. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Competition Commission of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on competition policy and law enforcement was signed as part of the meeting of regional organizations held in July 2022.

A separate section of the Report is devoted to the work done to improve the Union's competition law. The Commission has elaborated a draft Procedure for exemption from liability in case when an economic entity voluntarily declares an anti-competitive agreement or participation in it. "Targeted” amendments to the Methodology on fines have been prepared, extending the period during which liability measures can be applied to a violator of competition rules from 3 to 5 years.

Intergovernmental Council approved plans for developing EAEU transport infrastructure

At its meeting held on June 8 in Sochi, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council considered the issue of creating and developing transport infrastructure in the territories of the Eurasian Economic Union States in the East-West and North-South directions, including as part of coupling with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The preparation of this report on an annual basis is envisaged by the Strategy-2025.

As noted in the document, amid high geopolitical tensions, a change in logistics in the Eurasian space and the configuration of international transport corridors began in 2022.

“The need to diversify freight transportation routes has opened up new opportunities for developing cooperation with China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries,” the report reads. “Under these circumstances, the efforts of the parties and the Commission are aimed at developing the Eurasian transport corridors and implementing priority integration infrastructure projects in the field of transport”.

The work on developing the transport infrastructure of the Eurasian transport corridors and routes is coordinated at supranational and national levels in line with national infrastructure development plans and strategies. For example, Armenia plans to implement a project for constructing a 556 km North-South road corridor, the Republic of Belarus plans to commission 664.39 km of roads by 2025 after repair and reconstruction, as well as projects to increase the share of electrified railways to 25%. Kazakhstan plans to reconstruct about 12,000 km of roads by 2025, build over 900 km and electrify over 800 km of railways. Kyrgyzstan plans to reconstruct 1,650 km of roads that are part of international transport corridors by 2025, build the Balykchy-Kochkor-Kara-Keche railway line of 186 km, and electrify the Lugovaya-Rybachye (Balykchy) railway line of 321.5 km. Russia plans to build and reconstruct 8,500 km of roads, repair more than 77,000 km of regional and federal roads by the end of 2024; build new railway lines with a total length of 1,900 km, construct additional main tracks with a total length of 6,500 km, and electrify existing railway lines with a total length of 1,800 km by 2025.

The report notes that all the activities planned by the Commission were implemented in 2022. As for 2023, the EEC plans to explore some issues of forming a list of "bottlenecks" and lay out approaches to assess the financing required for their elimination. It is also planned to continue work on implementing priority integration infrastructure projects in the field of transport and digitalization of transport corridors within the EAEU.

“Ensuring free movement of goods in the Union and the absence of internal customs borders, the EAEU Member States' economic integration in the field of transport and the fact that they have a developed transport infrastructure can become key stabilizing factors for the Member States' economies in the current environment,” believes Arzybek Kozhoshev, EEC Minister in charge of Energy and infrastructure.

EAEU started reformatting digital agenda

At a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on June 8 in Sochi, the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union approved a report on further development of the EAEU integrated information system and the Union's digital agenda, and adopted a disposition envisaging further steps for digital transformation of the cooperation areas determined by the Treaty on the EAEU.

During the year, the Eurasian Economic Commission drafted and approved such significant documents as the Target Program for Developing the Union's Integrated System (IIS) until 2027 and the Terms of Reference for its development.

Work continues to automate cross-border interaction in various economic sectors through the Union's integrated information system.

Out of 77 common processes, 51 common processes have been made technically ready as scheduled (26 of these were put into operation, countries were connected and data exchange was organized, another 25 projects are in full technical readiness for connecting countries), and 19 more common processes will be made ready later this year.

The EAEU digitalization will be based on the IIS, which will serve as the basis for implementing digital projects. The adopted disposition of the Intergovernmental Council starts the work aimed at preparing a roadmap for infrastructure support of the digital agenda within the Union.

"The full-scale provision of all types of interaction (G2G, B2G, B2B, C2G, C2B, EEU2S) in accordance with the Target Program for Developing the Union's IIS until 2027 will become the foundation of the digital agenda," the document notes. 

For reference

The common process within the Eurasian Economic Union includes operations and procedures regulated (established) by international treaties and acts constituting the Union’s law and the EAEU States’ legislation which begin in the territory of one Member State and end (change) in the territory of another Member State.

Outcomes of 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum

The 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum was held on May 24-25 in Moscow and was timed to coincide with the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council involving the Heads of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States and the Observer States. The events were held as part of the 2023 presidency of the Russian Federation in the Eurasian Economic Union's governing bodies. The motto of the Forum is "Eurasian Integration in a Multipolar World".

Business program

The Forum's business program included about 35 sessions. The main topics were the most relevant and sought-after issues of integration processes in the EAEU, including the preparation of new long-term planning documents and determining the main vectors of integration interaction for the period until 2030 and 2045, developing cooperation between the EAEU and non-CIS countries, customs regulation, prospects for the EAEU internal market, as well as digital transformation and improvement of international payments mechanisms.

The events were divided into seven thematic tracks:

            Human Capital,

            Technologies and Cooperation,

            EAEU in a Changing World,

            Eurasian Cohesion,

            EAEU Internal Market: Customs Cooperation, Competition and State Procurement,

            Strategic Unit,

            EAEU Business Council's Unit.

The business program also included:

            Meeting of the Presidium of the EAEU Business Council;

            Business breakfast "EAEU Internal Market: Challenges and Development Prospects",

            ASI Business breakfast "New Opportunities for Developing International Cooperation in Eurasia",

            EAEU — Indonesia Business Dialogue

            Business breakfast of the EAEU — Indonesia Business Dialogue,

            Presentation of EAEU — Indonesia sectoral projects.

Plenary session

Plenary session was the key event of the 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum. The event was attended by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mher Grigoryan, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The moderator was Alexander Shokhin, President of the All-Russian Non-governmental Organization "Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs", and Chairman of the Presidium — President of the EAEU Business Council.

Mher Grigoryan: “The territory of our Union is one of the richest in the world in terms of natural resources and minerals. But our most valuable asset is, of course, our people. There is no doubt that the efficiency of achieving our objectives and our competitive advantage depends on people and their motivation. Given all the formal definitions, the key point of our integration is the development of human capital as the main potential and future of Eurasia”.

Alexander Lukashenko: “The world has recently been living in an atmosphere of constant tension and uncertainty. In an extraordinary environment, a stable economy is always a powerful anchor. But the economic borders of any State are so transparent today, and trade networks are so intertwined that it is almost an impossible task for any of the States to achieve economic stability on its own. Therefore, any country is interested in participating in powerful regional and international associations, for example, such as the EAEU, SCO, BRICS, and ASEAN”.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: “The events of the past year have once again clearly demonstrated the importance of developing the North-South transport corridor as a key element of the new global logistics. This north-south corridor is consistent with the latitudinal Trans-Caspian international transport route. Therefore, we see significant synergy in the coordinated and systematic development of both routes. This is not only a growth point for the manufacturing industry, transport and the economy. These routes can fundamentally change the level of interaction and cooperation within the vast Eurasia. <...> In general, it can be said without exaggeration that now we are, in fact, forming a new transport framework for Eurasia, which has never existed before”.

Sadyr Japarov: “Protection of business interests and their support from the State is a priority objective in all EAEU countries. In this regard, I believe it is necessary to elaborate on the expediency of establishing the Union's business ombudsman institution. <...> Creating the Eurasian rating agency, along with removing restrictions faced by business entities, would increase the level of financial independence of the Eurasian region countries and intensify investment activities".

Vladimir Putin: “We see that really complex and fundamental changes are taking place on the global stage. More and more States are taking a course towards strengthening national sovereignty, pursuing an independent domestic and foreign policy, and adhering to their own development model. All of them are in favor of building a new, more equitable architecture of international economic relations, striving to constructively influence world processes, expand the network of partnerships based on mutual benefit, respect and consideration of each other's interests”.

Mikhail Myasnikovich: “Investment activity is the key development factor for the future. There is a need for an all-Union import-substitution program. Technological sovereignty involves solving large-scale objectives for developing electronics, machine tool building, medicines production, creating chemical and biological enterprises, and high technologies. It is essential to determine the sources of financing and motivation mechanisms for these purposes”.

Participants

More than 2,700 participants and media representatives from Russia and 59 countries and territories attended the Forum.

High-ranking officials who attended the Forum included Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; and Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The event was also attended by Mher Grigoryan, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Igor Petrishenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Serik Zhumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Adylbek Kasymaliev, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Nine ministers took part in the Forum, including:

Nikolai Shulginov, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation; Almasadam Satkaliyev, Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan; Taalaibek Ibraev, Minister of Energy of Kyrgyzstan; Kudaibergen Bazarbaev, Minister of Labor, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic; Daniyar Amangeldiev, Minister of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan; Ayaz Baetov, Minister of Justice of Kyrgyzstan; Ivan Adolfo Acosta Montalvan, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Nicaragua; Alexander Chervyakov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Belarus; Irina Kostevich, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus; Viktor Karankevich, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Belarus; and Andrei Ivanets, Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus.

The Forum was attended by Heads of international organizations and associations, including:

Ming Zhang, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Erna Hayriyan, Chairman of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union; Sergey Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization; Taras Kupchikov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the CIS Electric Power Council; Sergei Lebedev, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States; and Dmitry Mezentsev, State Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Union State.

Felix Ramon Plasencia Gonzalez, Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, delivered a video message during the session.

13 heads of the diplomatic corps visited the venue as well.

The Forum was attended by a large delegation from Indonesia; the venue was visited by such high-ranking officials as Ego Syahrial, Special Adviser to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia on the Energy Transition Acceleration and Energy Infrastructure Development Strategy; José Antonio Morato Tavares, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Russia; Royke Octavian Roring, Regent of the Government of Minahasa (Indonesia); Olli Dondokambey, Governor of the North Sulawesi Provincial Government (Indonesia); and Andrei Angouw, Mayor of Manado (Indonesia).

In total, the Event venue was visited by representatives of foreign official delegations from 38 countries and territories.

More than 550 business representatives from about 400 companies took part in the Forum.

EEF-2023 partner country

The Republic of Indonesia became the partner country of the Forum. The EEF-2023 included a series of events with representatives of the public authorities and the business community of this country. The participants in the EAEU — Indonesia Business Dialogue considered priorities for deepening cooperation, discussed the creation of sustainable infrastructure, as well as building up supply chains, developing digital initiatives and removing non-tariff barriers. The business dialogue continued in the format of a business breakfast and B2B events — networking sessions and bilateral meetings of companies.

Green Eurasia International Climate Competition

The winners of the Green Eurasia International Climate Competition received their awards during the Forum. The competition was held by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects jointly with the Eurasian Economic Commission in 10 categories, including Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency, Clean Manufacturing Industry, Sustainable Agriculture, Low Carbon Transport, Sustainable Building, Green Financing, Efficient Waste Management, Environmental Culture and Public Involvement in the Climate Agenda, Environmental and Climate Monitoring and State Policy in the Field of Low-Carbon Development. The projects submitted to the competition were evaluated by an expert group representing the professional community.

Mher Grigoryan, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Igor Petrishenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, took part in the award ceremony.

Agreements

The Youth Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Council of Young Diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation signed a cooperation program.

MGIMO University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Belarusian State University, Belarus State Economic University, Dikambaev Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and Yerevan State University signed a Consortium Agreement on the Eurasian Integration.

Media partners

There were 31 media organizations that acted as media partners.

Armenia: Armenpress, ArmInfo, NovostiNK online media, Noev Kovcheg newspaper

Belarus: BELTA, PrimePress

Kazakhstan: DKNews, Kazinform International News Agency, 24KZ TV channel

Kyrgyzstan: ElTR TV company, Akchabar, AiF-Kyrgyzstan newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House Kyrgyzstan, News-Asia Central Asian Information Portal, Kabar National Broadcasting Corporation, National Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation of the Kyrgyz Republic

Russia: TASS, RIA-Novosti News Agency, Federal Press, Interfax, TV BRICS, NEWS.ru, Parlamentskaya Gazeta, Mir, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House, Lenta.ru, Gazeta.ru, The Firm's Secret

Iran: IranPress

World: Sputnik

Forum Operator

The Forum was operated by the Roscongress Foundation, a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international, congress, exhibition and public events.

Outcomes of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council's meeting on May 25, 2023

A package of amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU — Third Major Protocol was adopted. Its main goal is to eliminate gaps in legal regulation identified in the course of law enforcement practice, clarify the terminology used in the Treaty on the Union, empower the Union's governing bodies with a number of powers in terms of technical regulation, phytosanitary measures, the status of an observer state in the Union, public procurement.

Results of implementing the Strategy-2025 in 2022 were presented to Heads of State.

A Protocol was adopted to amend the Treaty on the EAEU in terms of financial assistance in implementing joint cooperation projects in industrial sectors. Financial assistance to joint industrial cooperation projects will be provided by subsidizing interest rates on credits and loans issued by international and national financial organizations, the list of which will be determined by the EEC Council.

The Heads of State were presented with a Report on implementing the Main Directions of the Eurasian Economic Union's international activities for 2022. Amid a slowdown in global trade and investment, the importance of trade and economic partners from the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions for the EAEU States has grown significantly: the share of China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and other countries in the Union's foreign trade turnover has increased.

The Supreme Council approved a binding report on implementing liberalization plans in the field of tourism, meteorology, mine surveying, property valuation, construction and cinematography. It outlines the problems of liberalization, including criteria for the content equivalence of regulation, administrative cooperation and ways to solve them.

EAEU prepares to issue electronic licenses and permits for the export and import of goods.

List of final acts signed at the SEEC meeting

1.       Decision "On making amendments to certain decisions of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council".

2. Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014 in terms of providing financial support for implementing by the Eurasian Economic Union Member States of joint cooperation projects in the manufacturing industries.

3. Decision "On providing financial support for implementing by the Eurasian Economic Union Member States of joint cooperation projects in the manufacturing industries".

4. Protocol on amendments to the Protocol on the conditions and transitional provisions on applying by the Kyrgyz Republic of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014, certain International Treaties included in the Law of the Eurasian Economic Union and Acts of the Eurasian Economic Union's Governing Bodies in connection with the Kyrgyz Republic's accession to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014, signed on May 8, 2015.

5. Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014 (Third Major Protocol).

6. Disposition "On submitting information in accordance with Subparagraph 5 of Paragraph 20 of the Protocol on common principles and rules for regulating activities of natural monopoly entities (Annex No. 20 to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014)".

7. Decision "On amendments to Annex No. 1 to the Rules of Procedure of the Eurasian Economic Commission" (approval of the rules for issuing licenses and permits for the export and/or import of goods).

8. Decision "On amendments to Annex No. 1 to the Rules of Procedure of the Eurasian Economic Commission" (customs operations).

9. Disposition "On implementing liberalization plans for individual service sectors within the Eurasian Economic Union".

10. Decision "On amendments to Decision No. 112 of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated December 23, 2014".

11. Disposition "On the results of monitoring the Eurasian Economic Union Member States' implementation in 2021-2022 of the provisions contemplated by the Rules governing trade in services, incorporation and activities".

12. Disposition "On amendments to Disposition No. 7 of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated December 26, 2016".

13. Disposition "On the time and venue of holding the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council".

EAEU preparing for issuing electronic licenses and permits for export and import of goods

The Protocol Amending the Treaty on the EAEU signed by the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union on May 25 singles out rules for issuing licenses and permits in a standalone document while retaining separate provisions in the Treaty.

The Protocol is subject to further ratification and will enter into force simultaneously with the new version of rules for issuing licenses and permits that are now being drafted by the Eurasian Economic Commission.

"Given the developing digitalization of the Member States' economies, such solutions contribute to a reduction in the use of hard and soft copies of documents for issuing licenses and permits for the export and import of goods. This will definitely simplify the procedures and will have a beneficial effect on doing business in the EAEU," Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade, noted.

Package of amendments to EAEU Treaty adopted

At the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held on May 25, the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union signed the so-called Third Major Protocol which contains amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU.

The Third Major Protocol was developed during the period from July 2021 through June 2022. Its primary aim is to eliminate legal regulation gaps identified during law enforcement practice, to clarify terminology used in the Treaty on the Union, as well as to vest the bodies of the Union with a number of powers in terms of technical regulation, phytosanitary measures, the Observer State status at the Union and state procurement.

Thus, the Treaty on the EAEU now includes a number of provisions establishing legal regulation for hazardous organisms that are not included in the unified list of the Union quarantine items but pose a phytosanitary risk. The definition of the term "transboundary space of trust" has been clarified in Annex No. 3 to the Treaty on the EAEU: apart from interaction between authorized authorities (G2G), interaction between economic entities and authorized authorities (B2G) is now possible during the preparation, sending, transmission and receipt of electronic documents and information. The Rules for Issuing Licenses and Permits for the Export and Import of Goods are invalidated (after the entry of the Third Major Protocol into force, these rules will be established by the Commission). Annex 25 to the Treaty on the EAEU is supplemented by the provision on the mutual recognition of electronic digital signatures for conducting state procurement in electronic format.

Now, the Third Major Protocol will be submitted to the countries for ratification.

Results of implementing Strategy-2025 in 2022 presented to Heads of State

The report on the implementation of the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025 as of year-end 2022 was presented to the Heads of State at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held in Moscow on May 25.

As noted in the report, the second year of implementing the Strategy-2025 fell on an economically difficult period – sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus were bound to affect the functioning of the Union. "However, joint efforts for ensuring economic growth and implementing the Strategy enabled the achievement of stabilization or positive trends for most indicators – GDP, industrial production, agricultural production and others," the report says.

For reference

The GDP volume index in the EAEU in January to March 2023 is indicatively estimated at 98.8% of January to March 2022 levels.

Agricultural production in the EAEU continues to grow in 2023. Growth in the first quarter amounted to 2.9%. The increase was observed in all the EAEU countries.

The EAEU industrial output over three months was 99.5% of the same period last year. The increase of industrial production was noted in Kyrgyzstan (+7.6%), Armenia (+3.6%), Kazakhstan (+2.8%) and Belarus (+1.8%).

The upward trend is demonstrated by mutual trade. In January to March 2023, the volume of mutual trade between the Union States increased by more than 20%.

EAEU increased number of its international partners in 2022

The report on the implementation of the Main Directions of the Eurasian Economic Union International Activities in 2022 was presented to the Heads of State at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held in Moscow on May 25.

Amid a slowdown in world trade and investment, the importance of trade and economic partners from the Asia-Pacific and the Middle Eastern regions for the EAEU States rose significantly: the share of China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and other countries in the Union's foreign trade turnover increased.

"Despite difficult external conditions, one of results of the Union's international activities in the reporting year was an increase in the number of the Union's new partners. A dialogue between the Commission and the Government of the United Arab Emirates was formalized; relationships with Myanmar and Laos as ASEAN Member States started to be institutionalized. Interaction with key integration and interstate associations (CIS, SCO, ASEAN) gained traction. A dialogue between the Commission and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia was formalized in the Memorandum of Understanding," the report says.

As follows from the document, the year was marked by deepening interaction with observer states Uzbekistan and Cuba. Efficient infrastructure was created to develop a dialogue with these countries with a focus on strengthening trade and economic ties by developing joint projects and establishing direct contacts between the business communities.

The GDP of third countries and regional associations with which trade agreements and memorandums on cooperation were signed and which were granted observer status amounts to 71.9 tln US dollars, or 49.9% of the global GDP. The population of these countries reaches 4.3 bln people, or 53.5% of the world's population.

For reference

Trade with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BRICS and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose by 35% in 2022 and exceeded one-third of the EAEU total trade turnover.

In 2021, the trade turnover of the Member States with Uzbekistan increased by more than 22% and amounted to almost 12 bln US dollars. In 2022, the trade turnover rose by approximately 27%.

The trade turnover of the Member States with Cuba increased by almost 9% in 2021, reaching $169.5 mln, and more than doubled in 2022.

EAEU transition to full-scale support for manufacturing industry approved

At a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held on May 25, the Heads of the Eurasian Economic Union countries approved amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU regarding new powers for the Eurasian Economic Commission to finance joint multilateral integration projects.

The innovations in the Treaty on the Union will make it possible to launch a pilot program for supporting key cooperative projects from the EAEU single budget as early as the start of 2024.

The new mechanism for financing cooperation in the real economy will contribute to the further technological development of the Union States' industrial sector and spur integration processes in the Eurasian space as a whole, including the provision of access for small economies to developing and implementing new high-tech industries.

According to preliminary estimates, the proposed approach will enable forming a fund to support financing from the EAEU budget in the amount of about 1.5 bln rubles a year.

Simultaneously, in order to implement the financing mechanism as soon as possible, a decision was signed by the members of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council to provide financial assistance in the form of subsidizing interest rates on loans and credits granted by international and national financial organizations.

The Union countries will be guided in doing so by the procedure for selecting and financing cooperative integration industrial projects, which will be approved by the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in H2 of the year.

Direct decisions on the project support will be adopted by the Union's governing bodies - the EEC Board and the EEC Council. The mechanism will operate in pilot mode for five years.

EAEU clarified concepts of high-technology medicines for human use

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has amended the Rules for Marketing Authorization and Expert Examination of Medicines for Human Use.

The Rules for Marketing Authorization and Expert Examination are the most essential document in the field of medicines circulation. In this regard, the Rules are updated with the emergence of new groups of pharmaceuticals, research evidence in the field of pharmacology and pharmacy, as well as practices of Member States.

The Council's decision extended and harmonized the conceptual framework of the Rules of marketing authorization in relation to new groups of medicines based on high technologies. The decision identified three new groups of medicines: gene therapy products, somatic cell products, and tissue-engineered products.

Adoption of these amendments will allow to optimize the processes of brining a range of products to the market to employ breakthrough technologies in treating previously incurable human diseases.

EEC Council approved Protocol on Amending Agreement on Common Principles and Rules for Circulation of Medicinal Products

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved the Protocol on Amendments to the Agreement on Common Principles and Rules for the Circulation of Medicinal Products (Medical Devices and Equipment) within the Eurasian Economic Union providing for an extended list of medicinal products that are exempt from registration within the Union (Article 4, paragraph 11 of the Agreement).

The Protocol was developed on proposals from the Eurasian Economic Union countries taking into account the practice of applying regulatory legal acts in this area.

The document stipulates that registration requirements do not apply to all custom-made medicinal products intended solely for the personal use of patients; medicinal products imported for a particular patient to treat their life-threatening conditions; medicinal products manufactured for export; medicinal products in the form of packs, kits, sets and first aid kits made up from registered medicinal products and pharmaceuticals in accordance with the legislation of a Member State and intended for circulation in the territory of that Member State.

The Protocol will be submitted for internal legal procedures required for its signing.

Rules for determining country of origin of goods for public procurement supplemented with production conditions for eight commodity items

At the initiative of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods for public (municipal) procurement purposes were supplemented with production conditions for eight new commodity items at a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council held on May 22.

In particular, the production conditions were approved for six types of transformers of various capacities, disinfection agents and disinfectants.

According to Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, the Rules already contain production conditions for 450 trade names in 15 manufacturing industries, given the adopted decision.

"Moreover, 276 commodity items are accepted for public procurement based on the ST-1 certificate," the EEC Minister noted.

Outcomes of EEC Council's meeting on April 20-21, 2023

An online meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council chaired by Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, involving Members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board, was held on April 20-21 in Moscow.

The deadline for the experiment between Belarus and Russia on using navigation seals has been extended until late 2023. The experiment started in February this year and covers timber and woodworking products placed under the customs export procedure in Belarus and dispatched from the territory of Russia. Initially, it was scheduled to be completed by June 1, but the deadline was extended at the initiative of the Belarusian side. The use of navigation seals will make it possible to optimize logistics, simplify and expedite the procedure of delivering cargoes to their recipients.

The EEC Council has approved a roadmap for implementing the EAEU mechanism for monitoring traffic using navigation seals. The roadmap elaborated by the Commission contains a set of measures, the implementation of which will make it possible to start monitoring the EAEU traffic as early as January 2024.

The EEC Council's members have reached an arrangement on sending the draft Agreement on a harmonized system for determining the origin of goods exported from the EAEU customs territory to the internal legal procedures required for its signing. The Agreement is intended to unify the Union countries' approaches in determining and confirming the origin of goods as part of their export beyond the EAEU customs territory, including if the Member States have export regulation measures that depend on the origin.

The rules for determining the country of origin of goods for public procurement have been supplemented with new commodity items and production conditions. Production conditions have been approved for 38 commodity items and the country of origin has been agreed for 174 goods confirmed by the ST-1 certificate to participate in the EAEU countries' public procurement.

The EEC Council considered a number of other issues on deepening the Eurasian integration as well. 

Deadline for experiment between Belarus and Russia on using navigation seals extended until late 2023

At a meeting held on April 21 in Moscow, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council decided to extend the experiment between Belarus and Russia on using navigation seals until late 2023.

The experiment started in February of this year and covers timber and woodworking products placed under the customs export procedure in Belarus and dispatched from the territory of Russia.

The purpose of the experiment is to test the use of navigation seals when transporting goods across the territories of the two countries.

Initially, it was scheduled to be completed by June 1, but the deadline was extended until the year-end at the Belarusian side's initiative.

The use of navigation seals will make it possible to optimize logistics, simplify and expedite the procedure of delivering cargoes to their recipients.

Roadmap for implementing EAEU mechanism for monitoring traffic using navigation seals approved

At a meeting held on April 21 in Moscow, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved a roadmap for implementing in the Eurasian Economic Union a mechanism for monitoring traffic using navigation seals.

The Agreement on using navigation seals for monitoring traffic in the EAEU came into effect on April 3, 2023. The roadmap elaborated by the Commission contains a set of measures, the implementation of which will make it possible to start monitoring the EAEU traffic as early as January 2024.

EEC completes work on creating system for determining origin of goods when exported to third countries

Arrangements to send the draft Agreement on a harmonized system for determining the origin of goods exported from the Eurasian Economic Union's customs territory to the internal legal procedures required to organize its signing were reached by members of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council at a meeting in Moscow.

The Agreement is intended to unify the approaches of the Eurasian Economic Union countries in determining and confirming the origin of goods as part of their export beyond the EAEU customs territory, including if the Member States have export regulation measures that depend on the origin.

“In addition to organizing efficient work when declaring exports, the document will also promote the access of the Eurasian goods to third markets by creating unified mechanisms for documenting the origin of products exported from the Union and the interaction between exporters and organizations that issue certificates of origin,” noted Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade.

Besides, the Agreement will become the starting point for implementing a system of self-declaration of the goods' origin in the Union, which will enable simplifying the process of obtaining tariff preferences under free trade agreements between the EAEU and third countries.

After the Member States complete all the procedures required, the draft document will be submitted for signing planned to be carried out at the level of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

For reference

The draft Agreement on a harmonized system for determining the origin of goods exported from the EAEU customs territory was elaborated in accordance with Paragraph 3.1.7 of the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025. According to the Action Plan for implementing these Strategic Directions, the Agreement should be signed by the Member States this year.

Rules for determining country of origin of goods for public procurement supplemented with new commodity items and production conditions

On April 21, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved the production conditions for 38 commodity items and agreed on the country of origin for 174 goods confirmed by the ST-1 certificate to participate in public procurement in the Eurasian Economic Union countries.

The Commission's Competition Unit, jointly with the authorized public authorities of the five countries, business associations and entrepreneurs, agreed on the production conditions under which pulse oximeters, endoscopes, blood transfusion equipment, external defibrillators, machines for cleaning, sorting or calibrating seeds, certain types of compressors and air pumps for the oil and gas industry and other goods will be considered as manufactured in the territories of the EAEU countries.

According to Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, the decision adopted by the Council is a tangible progress.

“The issues of public procurement for countries are particularly sensitive, and the process of coordinating positions here takes quite a long time. Today's decision has adopted production conditions for a number of goods, under which the manufacturer can safely declare its goods as "Eurasian". The decision also contains 174 goods that were previously banned and could not be procured. Now this so-called "grey area" has been eliminated. Manufacturers and suppliers of these goods, which are of social importance for the EAEU countries' citizens, such as means of communication, medical equipment, stationery, inventory and equipment for physical education and sports, and much more, can add their details to the Eurasian Register based on the ST-1 certificate and become full-fledged procurement participants,” the EEC Minister summed up.

For reference

Following the adopted decision, the Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods for public procurement purposes approved by Decision No. 105 of the EEC Council dated November 23, 2020, contain production conditions for 407 commodity titles from 14 manufacturing industries. Moreover, the Rules contain 276 commodity items accepted for public procurement based on the ST-1 certificate.

Outcomes of EEC Council's meeting on March 30, 2023

On March 30, an online meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council was held in Moscow. The meeting was chaired by Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, involving Members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board.

The increased threshold for duty-free importation of goods for natural persons has been extended for another six months. Therefore until October 1 of this year, the threshold for duty-free importation of goods for natural persons will be 1,000 euros and 31 kg for goods transported by a carrier or in postal items, brought in as luggage by all means of transport, except for by air, or on foot.

The Eurasian Economic Commission’s Council decided to grant tariff exemptions in the form of duty-free import of cane raw sugar during the period through to December 31, 2023. Sugar imported to the Republic of Armenia in the amount of no more than 100 ths tons, to the Republic of Kazakhstan – in the amount of no more than 350 ths tons, to the Kyrgyz Republic – in the amount of no more than 50 ths tons and to the Russian Federation – in the amount of no more than 100 ths tons is exempt from import customs duty.

As suggested by the Kazakh side, the Rules for determining the country of origin for public procurement purposes have been supplemented with new production conditions.

The issue “On draft Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014 in terms of providing financial support for implementing by the Eurasian Economic Union Member States of joint cooperation projects in the manufacturing industries ” was considered. The draft amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU in terms of providing financial support for implementing joint cooperation projects in the manufacturing industries will be sent for the internal legal procedures required for its signing.

Regulation of the medical products circulation in accordance with national legislation has been clarified.

Amendments were made to the Technical Regulation "On safety of rail transport infrastructure".

The draft Agreement on the mutual recognition of bank guarantees for public procurement was approved.

1,000-euro threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons extended until October 1, 2023

On March 30, the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council decided to extend the 1,000-euro threshold for duty-free importation of goods by natural persons until October 1, 2023.

Previously, the Commission's Council raised the duty-free threshold to 1,000 euros for goods transported by a carrier or in postal items as well as goods brought in as luggage by all means of transport, except by air, or on foot. This threshold was set on a provisional basis until April 1 of the current year.

Extending the measure will help support citizens amid sanction pressure and avoid a shortage of essential goods and critical imports.

For reference

References to previous decisions:

- decision to extend the threshold for duty-free importation of goods for natural persons;

- decision on the importation of goods as luggage or on foot;

- decision on the importation of goods by a carrier or in postal items.

EEC Council adopted decision on tariff exemption for raw sugar in 2023

The Eurasian Economic Commission’s Council decided to grant tariff exemptions in the form of duty-free import of cane raw sugar during the period through to December 31, 2023.

Sugar imported to the Republic of Belarus in the amount of no more than 100 ths tons, to the Republic of Kazakhstan – in the amount of no more than 350 ths tons, to the Kyrgyz Republic – in the amount of no more than 50 ths tons and to the Russian Federation – in the amount of no more than 100 ths tons is exempt from import customs duty.

“The decision was adopted with due regard to the EAEU Member States' indicative balances on sugar for 2023. The approved tariff exemption is aimed at developing the domestic production of the sugar industry and providing the Union countries' enterprises with raw materials,” said Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade.

Besides, he has clarified that the issue is planned to be discussed in autumn given the possibilities for the mutual coverage of demands for sugar by the EAEU Member States.

The Decision shall come into effect after 10 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

Conditions for manufacturing rail fastenings included in Rules for determining the country of origin of goods for public procurement purposes

As suggested by the Kazakh side, the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Council amended the Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods for public procurement purposes. The production environment and technological operations for commercial products "Rail fastenings with elastic terminals" of the "Rolling-stock manufacturing" industry were approved.

If the approved conditions are met, rail fastenings will be considered manufactured in the EAEU and will be granted unhindered access to public procurement in the Union countries.

It bears reminding that when participating in public procurement, the country of origin of goods and the production environment determined by the Rules are confirmed by providing an Extract from the Eurasian Register of Industrial Goods of the EAEU Member States.

Regulation of medical products circulation in accordance with national legislation clarified

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has amended the rules for registering medical devices enabling the EAEU States to regulate, in certain cases, the circulation of medical products in accordance with national legislation.

As Viktor Nazarenko, EEC Minister in charge of Technical Regulation, has noted, the amendments will enable ensuring the availability of medical products in the EAEU countries' markets through the use of flexible emergency response mechanisms at the national level.

The amendment also envisages the exclusion of transitional provisions when registering medical products according to the EAEU rules which have lost their relevance.

Amendments made to Technical Regulation "On safety of rail transport infrastructure"

As suggested by the Russian Federation, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has amended the Customs Union's Technical Regulation "On safety of rail transport infrastructure".

In accordance with the changes in the component elements of the rail transport infrastructure subsystems, the need to establish the specified lifetime and (or) assigned operation time is determined by the designer (developer). Along with that, the values of the specified lifetime and (or) assigned operation time are established in the products design documentation.

The component elements of the rail transport infrastructure subsystems include, for example, railway rails, wood and reinforced concrete sleepers and beams, rail fastenings, railroad switches, etc.

Outcomes of EEC Council's meeting

On February 15, an online meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council was held in Moscow. The meeting was chaired by Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and featured Members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board.

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council instructed the EEC Board to extend the possibility to issue paper certificates for self-propelled vehicles and other types of equipment together with issuing e-certificates for three months in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

EEC Council harmonized Union's law enforcement practice regarding temporarily imported engines, spare parts and equipment for repairing civil aircraft. The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council determined that engines, spare parts and equipment mounted on civil aircraft that had been temporarily imported without paying customs duties and are intended for civil aircraft maintenance or repair may be used both in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union and beyond it.

The February 15 meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved the recommendation "On Measures to Promote Cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States in Developing and Implementing Projects in Electric Vehicle Industry." The document was prepared to implement the EEC Council's instruction dated July 15, 2022 on launching "Eurasian Electric Bus", a pilot industrial cooperation project.

EEC Council Members approved the extension until February 1, 2024 of possible conformity assessment and release into circulation for M and N single vehicles imported for personal needs into the territory of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan without applying requirements for installing an emergency call device (system) on vehicles.

EAEU introduces rules for conducing bioequivalence studies of reproduced pharmaceuticals for topical application.

The EEC Council approved amendments to the Protocol on the exchange of information in electronic form between the tax authorities of the EAEU countries on the amounts of indirect taxes paid. To ensure complete payment of indirect taxes in the EAEU countries, in 2009 Member States concluded the Protocol on the exchange of information in electronic form. The tax authorities exchange information on the amounts of indirect taxes paid to the budgets of Member States. The amendments to be introduced concern a reduced time for information exchange between tax authorities and for exchanging format and logical control protocols. The document was sent to the EAEU countries to perform the internal legal procedures. 

The List of quarantinable products and the EAEU common phytosanitary quarantine requirements amended to provide more product details.

The next EEC Council meeting will be held in a face-to-face format in Moscow in mid-March.

EEC Council harmonized Union's law enforcement practice regarding temporarily imported engines, spare parts and equipment for repairing civil aircraft

The Eurasian Economic Commission Council determined that engines, spare parts and equipment mounted on civil aircraft that had been temporarily imported without paying customs duties and are intended for civil aircraft maintenance or repair may be used both in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union and beyond it.

Notably, this is not a question of establishing some new regulation but refining a norm that is already in force. Therefore the adopted decision covers legal relations having arisen from the date of entry into force of the Decision No. 331 of the Commission of the Customs Union dated June 18, 2010.

It is worth noting that consideration of the issue was initiated in relation to appeals filed with the Commission by participants of foreign economic activities. Now interested entrepreneurs have effectively received confirmation that mounting and using engines, spare parts and equipment imported without paying customs duties are legitimate and permissible.

For reference

Temporary duty-free imports of engines, spare parts and equipment intended for civil aircraft maintenance or repair are provided for by Paragraph 25 of the List of Goods Temporarily Imported with Full Conditional Exemption from Customs Duties and Taxes approved by the Decision No. 331 of the Customs Union Commission dated June 18, 2010.

EEC Council approved measures to promote EAEU countries' cooperation in electric vehicle industry

The February 15 meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission Council approved the recommendation "On Measures to Promote Cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States in Developing and Implementing Projects in Electric Vehicle Industry." The document was prepared to implement the EEC Council's instruction dated July 15, 2022 on launching "Eurasian Electric Bus", a pilot industrial cooperation project.

"The adopted recommendation allows to organize further work on developing cooperation projects of the EAEU States in the field of producing components for electric transport," stressed Artak Kamalyan, EEC Minister in charge of Industry and Agriculture. 

According to Artak Kamalyan, the document outlines the main basic approaches to cooperation between Member States in producing electric vehicles in the Union and measures to set about specific joint projects on component manufacturing. The recommendation also formalizes the established Lists of Critical Components and Organizations Having Required Production Capabilities.

"First of all, it is necessary to develop competences in electric bus manufacturing as such products are already produced in most countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and demand for them is largely driven by public procurement," noted EEC Minister. "In the future, the work in this direction will continue but it is planned to focus on developing potential cooperation projects while exploring the possibility of subsidizing interest rates on loans at the Commission’s expense." 

In the course of examining the matter, Belarus submitted its proposals on considering the experience of Member States in building charging facilities including those having chargers for electric buses, electric trucks and electric cars.

At the instruction of the EEC Council this issue will be explored by the Commission on Cooperation and Import Substitution in priority and high-tech industries within the Union. If needed, it will consider a possibility of creating a joint cooperation project by interested Member States. 

Implementation of the documents will facilitate development of cooperation ties between the Union States in electric vehicle manufacturing, research and technology collaboration and experience exchange between Member States with regard to key technologies and projects in this field.

EAEU introduces rules for conducing bioequivalence studies of reproduced pharmaceuticals for topical application

The Eurasian Economic Commission Council supplemented the Rules for Conducting Bioequivalence Studies of Pharmaceuticals that establish unified standards for confirming equivalence of copied (generic and hybrid) topical pharmaceuticals. The rules for conducting studies are supplemented with three annexes regulating approaches to establishing equivalence of topical pharmaceuticals depending on their administration route (application method).

A possibility of providing false data on equivalence
and interchangeability of reproduced topical medications is excluded; moreover, there are additional guarantees for patient rights protection when conducting studies of pharmaceuticals.

"The introduced amendments will allow to shorten trial programs for copied pharmaceuticals and replace long-term, expensive and wide-scale clinical trials of such pharmaceuticals with studies conducted in small groups or using specialized models. The eliminated need to duplicate studies of these pharmaceutical groups will be accompanied by reduced costs related to their development," noted Viktor Nazarenko, EEC Minister in charge of Technical Regulation.

Prolonged period of passenger transport and truck conformity assessment and release into circulation

EEC Council Members approved the extension until February 1, 2024 of conformity assessment and release into circulation for M and N single vehicles imported for personal needs to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan without applying requirements for installing an emergency call device (system).

It bears reminding that the M category covers passenger vehicles including cars and the N category covers trucks.

The changes were adopted as part of implementing measures to improve economic stability of the Eurasian Economic Union States, including ensuring macroeconomic stability, approved by the Disposition of the Commission’s Council dated March 17, 2022. They apply to legal relations arising from February 1, 2023.

Prolonged deadline for issuing paper certificates for self-propelled vehicles and other types of equipment

The Eurasian Economic Commission Council instructed the EEC Board to extend the possibility to issue paper certificates for self-propelled vehicles and other types of equipment together with issuing e-certificates for three months. 

The relevant changes will be introduced into the EEC Board's Decision No. 122 dated September 22, 2015 following the established procedure.

For reference

According to the EEC Board's Decision No. 122 dated September 22, 2015, it is permissible to issue paper certificates for self-propelled vehicles as per the single certificate form and the Procedure for filling it in approved by the EEC Board's Decision No. 100 dated August 18, 2015: in the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan until March 31, 2023 inclusive; in the Republic of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic until May 31, 2023 inclusive. The Russian Federation has been issuing only electronic certificates for self-propelled vehicles starting from November 2, 2022. 

Outcomes of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting on February 2-3, 2023

The Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union countries considered eight issues at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s meeting held on February 2-3 in Almaty (the Republic of Kazakhstan) in a face-to-face format.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council approved the Rules for access to the services of interstate transmission of electricity (capacity) within the EAEU common electric power market. This is the first package of rules required to launch the common electric power market to be adopted by the Heads of Government of the EAEU.

The Heads of Government of the EAEU countries supported the proposal of the Eurasian Economic Commission to include transportation carried out along the international North-South transport corridor in the direction of Turkmenistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India in the joint integration project "Eurasian Agroexpress".

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council adopted a decision to amend the Regulations on developing, financing and implementing interstate programs and projects in the manufacturing industry. This document has been in force within the Eurasian Economic Union for 5 years, since February 2018, and nowadays a demand arose for updating its individual standards.

At the Intergovernmental Council’s meeting, the Eurasian Economic Commission presented a report on the macroeconomic situation in the Eurasian Economic Union States and proposals for ensuring sustainable economic development. The report contains information on current development trends in the global economy, dynamics and prospects of the EAEU States’ economic development, analyzes obstacles to growth and suggests principles and criteria for supporting the Union countries’ economic development.

The next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will take place on June 7-9 in Sochi (the Russian Federation).

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s meeting was attended by the Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union – Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the EIC and Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Akylbek Zhaparov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and the Heads of Government of the Observer States at the EAEU - Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan (in person) and Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba (via video).

   

Documents signed following the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting.

 - Disposition "On the macroeconomic situation in the Eurasian Economic Union Member States and proposals to ensure sustainable economic development". - Decision "On making amendments to the Regulations on developing, financing and implementing interstate programs and projects in the Industrial sphere".
  - Disposition “On making amendments to the list of goods whereby indicative balance sheets are prepared”.
- Decision "On approval of the Rules for access to the services of interstate transmission of electricity (capacity) within the common electric power market of the Eurasian Economic Union".
- Disposition "On making amendments to Disposition No. 11 of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council dated June 21, 2022".
  - Disposition "On further development of the integrated information system and digital agenda of the Eurasian Economic Union".
  - Disposition “On implementing the joint project of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States on performing expediate rail and multimodal transportation of agricultural products and food “Eurasian Agroexpress”.
- Disposition "On the time and venue of holding the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council".

Outcomes of EEC Council's meeting on January 25, 2023

On January 25, a face-to-face meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council was held in Moscow. The meeting was chaired by Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and featured Members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board.

During the year starting from January 1, 2023 the Russian Federation is presiding over the EAEU governing bodies: the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The EEC Council approved the production conditions to be met for another 55 commodity items to be considered manufactured in the EAEU so they can be accepted for public procurement in the Union States. Relevant amendments were introduced to Annex 1 to the Rules for Determining the Country of Origin of Certain Types of Goods for Public Procurement Purposes. The goods include aircraft tugs, 3D printers, microphones, loudspeakers, phones, sound systems, circuits for devices and computer power units, scanners, biometric systems, LEDs, fiber optic cables, breathing apparatuses and other products. The introduced changes concern five industries: machine tool engineering, specialized mechanical engineering, medical product manufacturing, musical instruments, as well as sound equipment, electronics and communications electronics.

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council adopted a decision on temporary zeroing the import customs duty on plasticized polyvinyl chloride for wallpaper production until February 29, 2024 inclusive. The current EAEU СCT rate for this product is 6.5%.

The Unified EAEU List of Quarantine Items was expanded with a new pest species and it is now required that seed and planting materials must be free from this quarantine item.

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved amendments to the Model Conformity Assessment Schemes. The decision by the EEC Council will create conditions for organizational and regulatory improvements in this field. They will allow to make timely corrections to the Union conformity assessment documents (certificates and declarations) when a company name or the surname and initials of an individual entrepreneur change, as well as when there are changes in some address details of the place of manufacture (for instance, in the case of renaming a city or a street, a changed post code or house number) provided that the actual place of manufacture remains the same. That will facilitate the work of economic entities in the EAEU countries.

The attendees of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council approved joint forecasts of the agricultural sector development and joint indicative balances of supply and demand for 2023 with regard to certain agricultural goods.

The meeting approved the Report on Macroeconomic Situation in the EAEU States and proposals on ensuring sustainable economic development. It will be presented at the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

A draft agenda for the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council to be held on February 2-3, 2023 in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan was also approved.

Rules of origin for engaging in public procurement of the EAEU countries supplemented with another 55 items

The EEC Council approved the production conditions to be met for another 55 commodity items to be considered manufactured in the EAEU so they can be accepted for public procurement in the Union States.

Relevant amendments were introduced to Annex 1 to the Rules for Determining the Country of Origin of Certain Types of Goods for Public Procurement Purposes. The goods include aircraft tugs, 3D printers, microphones, loudspeakers, phones, sound systems, circuits for devices and computer power units, scanners, biometric systems, LEDs, fiber optic cables, breathing apparatuses and other products. In total, the introduced changes concern five industries: machine tool engineering, specialized mechanical engineering, medical product manufacturing, musical instruments, as well as sound equipment, electronics and communications electronics.

All the conditions and production procedures were agreed with the authorized authorities and businesses of the EAEU countries.

According to Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, the decision by the EEC Council significantly expands possibilities for the Union countries' manufacturers to participate in each other's public procurement.

"The adopted conditions and process operations will allow to leverage the capacities created in the Union States to the utmost, which is of no small importance given import substitution and relocation of production facilities," commented the Minister.

For reference

Following the adopted decision, the Rules for Determining the Country of Origin of Certain Types of Goods for Public Procurement Purposes approved by the Decision of the EEC Council No. 105 dated November 23, 2020, contain production conditions for 375 commodity titles from 14 manufacturing industries. Moreover, the Rules contain 102 commodity items that are accepted for public procurement based on the ST-1 certificate.

EEC zeroed import duty on wallpaper polymers for one year

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council adopted a decision on temporary zeroing the import customs duty on plasticized polyvinyl chloride for wallpaper production until February 29, 2024 inclusive. The current EAEU СCT rate for this product is 6.5%.

"The polymer is used for rotary screen printing on paper and non-woven fabric and at the moment it is not produced in the required volumes in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union," explained Vahagn Ghazaryan, Director of the EEC Department for Customs Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation.

According to him, in the context of outside sanctions against a number of countries within the Union, the adopted customs and tariff regulation measure will allow to support wallpaper producers in the domestic market.

The decision shall come into effect after 10 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

For reference

Earlier, in accordance with Decisions of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council No. 47 dated August 22, 2017 and No. 97 dated December 5, 2018, the zero import customs duty rate was already applied to the goods in question from October 14, 2017 to December 31, 2020 inclusive.

Outcomes of EEC Council's meeting on December 14, 2022

On December 14, the final meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council in 2022 chaired by Adylbek Kasymaliev, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, involving Members of the EEC Council and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EEC Board, took place in Moscow in a face-to-face format.

The EEC Council approved an action plan (roadmap) for transiting to registration of medical products according to the Eurasian Economic Union's law.

The EEC Council approved amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU on introducing emergency phytosanitary measures.

The EEC Council considered the progress of work on the draft EAEU Biosecurity Strategy. Earlier, this initiative was advanced by the Belarusian party. The Commission's Board instructed to continue consultations. 

The EEC Council decided to supplement the Rules for organizing laboratory tests (research) in implementing veterinary control (supervision) with uniform requirements to reference laboratories (centers) in this field. 

The EEC Council decided to extend until April 1, 2024 the validity term of zero import customs duty on diesel engines for mining equipment manufactured by BELAZ OJSC.

The Vice Prime Ministers were presented with proposals on mechanisms for financing joint programs and projects in the EAEU.

The EEC Council supplemented the Rules for determining the country of origin of goods with 81 commodity items, including chandeliers, irons, microwave ovens, electrical appliances for making coffee or tea, mattresses, electric water heaters, vacuum cleaners, lifting gates, microscopes and others.

By the EEC Council's decision, amendments were made to the Procedure for reviewing the EAEU States' notifications by the Commission on the adoption of acts to establish exceptions from the national regime in the field of public procurement. The amendments were adopted to implement the roadmap for eliminating exceptions and restrictions, approved by the Commission's Council last year.

The EEC Council adopted a recommendation on a comparative list of property valuation subjects. The comparative list includes property valuation subjects with indication of permits granting the right to conduct a property valuation of relevant subjects in each EAEU State. 

The next face-to-face meeting of the EEC Council will be held on January 20, 2023 in Moscow.

Documents signed following the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council 

– Decision “On making amendments to the Rules for organizing laboratory tests (research) in implementing veterinary control (supervision)”. 

– Decision “On making amendments to the Unified List of products for which mandatory requirements are established within the Customs Union”.

– Disposition “On approving the action plan (road map) to ensure the transition to registering medical products in accordance with the Rules for registration and examination of the safety, quality and efficiency of medical products”. 

– Disposition "On making amendments to the Action Plan for Implementing the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025". 

– Recommendation "On a comparative list of property valuation objects with indication of permits granting the right to conduct a property valuation of relevant objects".

– Decision "On amendments to certain Decisions of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission". 

– Decision "On making amendments to the Rules for determining the country of origin for certain types of goods for public (municipal) procurement purposes".

– Disposition “On proposals on mechanisms for financing joint programs and projects of the Eurasian Economic Union”.

– Disposition "On draft Protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014 (draft Third Major Protocol)".

– Decision “On making amendments to the Procedure for reviewing the Eurasian Economic Union Member States' notifications by the Eurasian Economic Commission on the adoption of acts to establish exceptions by the Member States from the national regime in the field of public (municipal) procurement, the Member States' applications to repeal such acts, as well as the decisions adopted by the Commission on the need to abolish such acts". 

– Decision “On extending the validity term of import customs duty of the Common Customs Tariff of the Eurasian Economic Union in respect of certain types of internal combustion engines”.

– Disposition “On approaches to forming a unified register of persons authorized by manufacturers”.

Vice Prime Ministers of EAEU countries presented with proposals on mechanisms for financing joint programs and projects

At a meeting held on December 14, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Council considered the EEC Board's proposals on mechanisms for financing joint programs and projects in the Eurasian Economic Union. 

As Sergei Glazyev, EEC Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics, has noted, the Commission analyzed the sources and instruments for financing programs and projects of international financial development institutions operating in the Eurasian Economic Union, the regulatory framework for elaborating interstate programs in the CIS, as well as the activities of international integration associations and development institutions. 

The prepared proposals will be taken into account in the work on the draft Regulations on the development, financing and implementation of joint programs and projects of the Union, the elaboration of which is envisaged by the Strategy-2025.

The EEC Council took note of the report. 

For reference

The report “On proposals for financing mechanisms for joint programs and projects of the Eurasian Economic Union” was elaborated to implement the Strategy-2025, as well as a list of measures to improve economic stability of the EAEU Member States, including ensuring macroeconomic stability.

EEC Council supplemented Rules for determining the country of origin of goods with some commodity items

The Rules for determining the country of origin of certain types of goods for public procurement purposes were amended by the EEC Council's decision in important ways. The list of goods included in the Eurasian register of industrial goods for public procurement purposes on the basis of ST-1 certificate (issued in accordance with the Rules for determining the country of origin in the Commonwealth of Independent States dated November 20, 2009) has been supplemented with another 81 types of goods.

These include chandeliers, irons, microwave ovens, electrical appliances for making coffee or tea, mattresses, electric water heaters, vacuum cleaners, lifting gates, microscopes, and others.

According to Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, now, the manufacturer can provide a Certificate of Origin ST-1 in order to include these goods in the Eurasian Register. “The supplements adopted today will significantly facilitate the procedure for entrepreneurs to be included in the Eurasian register, what is especially important given the social significance of these goods,” the EEC Minister noted.

In addition, the Council's decision extended the possibility of being included in the Eurasian Register of Industrial Goods on the basis of the ST-1 Certificate for eight items of special equipment until June 30, 2023, for trolleybuses - until the end of 2023, and for light industry goods and paper - until the end of 2024.

Requirements to reference laboratories in veterinary medicine specified

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council decided to amend the Rules for organizing laboratory tests (research) in implementing veterinary control (supervision) and supplement them with uniform requirements to reference laboratories (centers) in this field.

 The requirements will allow the Eurasian Economic Union countries to apply uniform approaches to assessing laboratories' functional abilities, and selecting centers from among them to provide reference functions. This will help increase the integrity of ongoing research, as well as mitigate the risks of introducing unreasonable prohibitions and restrictions by the parties' authorized bodies in mutual and international trade.

Furthermore, these amendments contemplate updating the conceptual framework of the document and harmonizing the forms of sampling (sample) certificates.

The updated Rules shall come into effect after 30 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

Roadmap for transiting to registration of medical products according to EAEU law approved

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved an action plan (roadmap) for transiting to registration of medical products according to the Union law. The roadmap enables considering all issues identified in the work of the common market of medical products since January 1, 2022, and includes activities of the Union countries' authorized bodies, as well as joint activities with the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The authorized bodies' activities for developing test capabilities include:
- constant analysis of problematic issues in the work of testing laboratories (centers);
- preparing proposals on measures to support the activities of testing laboratories (centers) and medical organizations (clinical trial sites);
- training of experts and inspectors required for work according to the Union's rules.

Joint activities with the Commission include:
- ensuring stable information exchange within the Union in the field of medical products circulation;
- further optimization of the procedure for registering medical products.


As Viktor Nazarenko, EEC Minister in charge of Technical Regulation, has noted, according to the plan the main part of the activities should be completed by year-end 2023. This will enable ensuring an unconditional transition to registering medical products under the Union's rules after the expiration of the agreement's transition period with due regard to its planned extension until the end of 2025.

EEC Council approved amendments to Treaty on the EAEU on introducing emergency phytosanitary measures

The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council has approved amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union on establishing a unified approach to the procedure for introducing emergency phytosanitary measures against hazardous organisms not included in the Unified List of quarantine items, but posing a phytosanitary risk for the Union's customs territory.

The draft protocol on amendments to the Treaty on the EAEU was sent by the Council to the EAEU countries for internal legal procedures, following this the document will be submitted to the Heads of State for signing.

Enacting these amendments will enable mitigating the risk of barriers to the Member States' mutual trade and improving the phytosanitary security of the Union's customs territory.

Besides, some arrangements between the Member States to take joint actions in consumer rights protection were included in the Treaty.

EEC improved Procedure for reviewing EAEU States' notifications on establishing exceptions from public procurement

By the Council's decision, the Eurasian Economic Commission amended the Procedure for reviewing the Eurasian Economic Union States' notifications by the Commission on the adoption of acts to establish exceptions from the national regime in the field of public procurement (approved by Decision No. 69 of the EEC Council dated November 23, 2015).

The amendments were adopted to implement the roadmap for eliminating exceptions and restrictions, approved by the Commission's Council last year.

In addition to technical amendments, the new Procedure establishes the obligation of the State introducing an exception to justify its decision with relevant analytics, in the event of any request from another EAEU State to repeal this act.

 Besides, the Commission is now obliged to post on the EEC's website a register of notifications about acts on established exceptions adopted by the Union States. The register will contain information on compliance of notifications with the requirements of the procedure, qualification of the established regulation, as well as other information about the adopted act.

Commenting on the adopted amendments, Bakhyt Sultanov, EEC Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, has noted that they will ensure transparency and predictability of the States' actions, establish clear “rules of the game”, and make the procurement sector more friendly for entrepreneurs.

   

For reference

The Treaty on the EAEU contemplates, in exceptional cases, the State's right to unilaterally (in accordance with its legislation) establish exceptions from the national regime in public procurement for a period not exceeding two years.

Outcomes of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council’s meeting on December 9, 2022

Today, the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held its face-to-face meeting in Bishkek under the chairmanship of Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, involving the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union: Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; as well as Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, President of the Republic of Cuba (a video address); Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Board.

The EAEU Heads of State decided to start negotiations between the Eurasian Economic Union and the United Arab Emirates on concluding a free trade agreement.

The EAEU Heads of State signed a protocol amending the procedure for VAT taxation of e-services delivered across the Union.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council decided to establish a new format for financing industrial cooperation projects.

The EAEU Heads of State approved the Main Directions of the EAEU International Activities for 2023.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council approved the list of priority areas for liberalizing services and decided to expand the single market of services within the Eurasian Economic Union, which will be broadened with 14 service sectors including meteorology, household and other auxiliary services since January 1, 2023.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council decided to establish an auxiliary body – the Council of Heads of Authorized Energy Authorities of the EAEU Member States. The Regulation on the Council was approved. Establishing the Council of Heads will allow to enhance an efficient interaction between the Union countries in this area, which is aimed at providing national economies with the main types of energy resources, developing long-term mutually beneficial cooperation, pursuing a coordinated energy policy, and gradually creating common markets of energy resources.

In accordance with the SEEC decision, during the year starting from January 1, 2023 the Russian Federation will preside over the EAEU governing bodies: the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission. According to the Treaty on the EAEU, the chair of these bodies rotates annually on a scheduled basis following the Russian alphabetical order. In the departing 2022, all the institutions have been presided by the Kyrgyz Republic and its representatives.

The next meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council will be held on May 24-25, 2023 in the Russian Federation.

Documents signed following the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council's meeting

-       Decision 'On the Start of Negotiations with the United Arab Emirates on Concluding a Free Trade Agreement',

-     Decision 'On the Main Directions of the Eurasian Economic Union's International Activities for 2023',

-    Decision 'On Amending Paragraph 63 of Annex No. 1 to the Rules of Procedure of the Eurasian Economic Commission',

-     Decision 'On the Council of Heads of Authorized Energy Authorities of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States',

-    Protocol Amending the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014 in terms of defining the procedure for levying indirect taxes on e-services,

-    Decision 'On Amending the List of Service Sectors (Sub-Sectors) Covered by the Single Market of Services within the Eurasian Economic Union',

 -     Decision "On the List of Priority Areas for Liberalizing Services with the Purpose of Identifying the Sectors (Sub-Sectors) to Continue the Efforts for Establishing the Single Market of Services within the Eurasian Economic Union According to Liberalization Plans (Over the Transition Period)',

-    Decision 'On Awarding the Medal "For Contribution to Development of the Eurasian Economic Union”',

-    Decision 'On Amending the Regulation on External Auditing (Control) in the Eurasian Economic Union's Governing Bodies',

-       Decision 'On Approving the Amount of Fee to be Paid by Economic Entities for Applying to the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union',

-    Decision 'On Presiding over the Eurasian Economic Union's Governing Bodies',

EAEU adopted a new format for financing industrial cooperation projects

At its meeting on December 9 in Bishkek, the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council decided to create a new format for financing industrial cooperation projects.

For the first time in the ten years of the Eurasian Economic Commission existence, an efficient support mechanism in this area will be launched, which will allow the Union countries' enterprises to implement significant strategic projects. It will help to efficiently promote business initiatives, significantly increase mutual investments between countries, increase the number of jobs, increase the sustainability of industrial complexes, etc.

Previously, the Heads of the Member States have repeatedly noted the need to create the necessary conditions for developing industrial cooperation and emerging of new joint ventures and infrastructure projects in the Union. In fact, without this, the accelerated industrial development of the EAEU is impossible. The latter, in turn, is necessary for forming an independent, strong economy in the Union countries. 

To meet this objective, the Commission and Member States have proposed measures to support industrial enterprises, in particular, on specific sources and mechanisms for financing joint projects. As a financing mechanism, it was determined to subsidize from the Union's budget the interest rates on credits and loans issued for the cooperation project implementation. The mechanism is designed for five years with the possibility of extension.

According to preliminary calculations, a fund in the amount of about 20 million US dollars per year will be formed. It will allow for annual support of projects worth about 16-17 billion Russian rubles.

The Commission and allied states consider such criteria as the participation of three or more parties, the added value formation in the cooperation chain, financial efficiency and sustainability, the mutual trade and investment growth, etc., to be significant for the project selection. 

To ensure the actual application of the new mechanism and the launch of the industrial cooperation project financing, the decision of the Union countries' presidents will amend the Treaty on the EAEU. The new funding format is expected to start in early 2024.

The EAEU Heads of State approved the new procedure for VAT taxation of digital services

On December 9 at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the EAEU Heads of State signed a protocol amending the procedure for VAT taxation of e-services delivered across the Union.

According to the new rules, when cross-border purchasing some services in electronic form within the EAEU, VAT will be taxed at the buyer's location. Previously, there was no single approach to this issue, which resulted in double taxation or a situation where such commercial activities were untaxed in any of the Member States.

In addition, the approved protocol enabled the taxpayers rendering services in the electronic form to buyers within the EAEU to register remotely in the Member State as a VAT payer, submit an electronic declaration, and pay tax in a simplified format.

Besides, technical issues of the VAT tax administration procedure for rendering services in electronic form within the EAEU were resolved.

The protocol and prospects for developing the EAEU tax legislation in the field of e-commerce were commented by Bakytzhan Sagintaev, EEC Minister in charge of Economy and Financial Policy:

“Today, an important protocol was signed that fixes the supranational procedure for administering VAT when taxpayers render services in electronic form in the EAEU Member States. The agreement reached contributes to developing a competitive environment in this area, ensures even greater economic integration, and clarifies to businesses the issues of VAT taxation of services rendered in electronic form within the EAEU. I would like to note that the activities in this area are currently going on, and the Commission has begun to approve the list of services rendered in electronic form, which will be subject to the new rules. In addition, the Commission is actively working on the approval of the draft Protocol aimed at resolving the issues of VAT taxation of electronic trade in goods between the EAEU countries.” 

EAEU common market of services expanding

Since January 1, 2023, fourteen service sectors, including meteorological services, household and other support services, will move to the format of the common market of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Creating a common market of services (CMS) helps to increase the competitiveness of goods, works and services, reduce prices and tariffs for consumers, reduce the service providers' costs arising from re-obtaining permits, establishing a legal entity, confirming the personnel qualifications and the cost of maintaining a legal entity.

Since 2015, 128 service sectors have already gradually transferred to the CSM format, including such significant areas for the EAEU countries' economies as construction and tourism services and many others.

   

For reference

The single market for services is the state of a specific service sector wherein the sides do not apply discriminatory, quantitative and other restrictions, but permits and qualifications are recognized and the possibility is provided to supply services throughout the Union without an additional institution in the form of a legal entity.

EAEU and UAE to start negotiations on concluding free trade agreement

The Eurasian Economic Union starts negotiations with the United Arab Emirates on concluding a free trade agreement. The corresponding decision was made by the EAEU Heads of State during their meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held on December 9 in Bishkek.

"The joint research group's work has shown that a free trade area with the UAE will create conditions for increasing our supplies of more than 1,300 commodity items in both the industrial and agricultural sectors," Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, commented on the decision.

At the same time, he stressed that the EEC treats the forthcoming work broader than simply forming a preferential regime for trade in goods. The relevance of multifaceted interaction is proved by the high interest and a large number of companies from the Union countries, including innovative ones, acting in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the role of this state as an international trade and transport and logistics hub.

In addition, the agreement with the UAE is addressed through the lens of strengthening the EAEU exporters' positions in the countries of the entire Persian Gulf in the context of the Greater Eurasian Partnership and the North-South Corridor.

According to Andrey Slepnev, during the negotiations, the parties expect to move in the fast track mode and hold the first round as early as March next year.

For reference

The Joint Research Group (JRG) to study the feasibility of concluding a free trade agreement between the EAEU and the UAE was established pursuant to the order of the EEC Council in April 2022. Based on the research carried out, the JRG considered it appropriate to initiate the negotiations. The results of the group's work, as well as the conceptual provisions of the future agreement, were considered at a meeting held by the Council of the Commission on November 25 this year.

The EAEU-UAE mutual trade increased 4 times from 2015 to 2021, having reached 6.3 bln dollars: the EAEU exports increased 4.7 times, and imports from the UAE grew by 47%.

EAEU approved list of priority areas in service sector for subsequent liberalization

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council approved a list of priority areas for service liberalization, seeking to determine the service sectors (subsectors) where activities will continue to create a common market of services of the Eurasian Economic Union pursuant to the liberalization plans.

This list includes 117 types of services. They are, in particular, services for manufacturing textiles, paper and paper products, base metals, automobiles, trailers, transport equipment, chemicals, and chemical products, plastic products, molding, consulting services in various fields (law, environment, etc.), and others.

   

For reference

The procedure and stages for creating a common market of services in specific service sectors are determined by liberalization plans approved by the Supreme Council.

The list is approved by the Supreme Council as part of the activities under paragraph 1.3.1 of the Action Plan for Implementing the Strategic Directions for Developing Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025.

Main Directions of EAEU International Activities for 2023 approved

At the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held on December 9 in Bishkek, the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union approved the Main Directions of the EAEU International Activities for 2023.

According to the document, the EAEU activities in 2023 will focus on intensifying the interaction with the CIS states and other neighboring countries, developing a systematic dialogue with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), BRICS countries and other interested states and associations in Central Asia and the Middle East in the context of the idea of the Greater Eurasian Partnership, promoting the realization of the EAEU countries' export potential, including through entering new markets and expanding the use of national currencies in mutual settlements.

In addition, the priorities for 2023 include searching for new business opportunities in a changing global economy, helping businesses overcome barriers arising from disruption of transport and logistics chains and financial settlement restrictions in international trade.

The primary Union's efforts will be focused on developing the already established cooperation mechanisms, including within the framework of concluded memorandums, declarations and trade agreements. These issues are covered by the first section of the document. 

The document provides for cooperation with such international organizations as the United Nations (UN), including its regional commissions, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and others, are noted here, among the regional associations are the Executive Committee of the CIS, SCO, ASEAN, the African Union and other.

As for the third countries, the priority will be cooperation with the EAEU observer states, with China under the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement, with Vietnam, Serbia, Singapore and Iran in accordance with preferential trade agreements.

The second part of the document lists potential partners with whom the Union aims to develop relations. They include regional associations and the third states that are interested in deepening systemic interaction with the EAEU. 

For reference

In its international activities, the EAEU is guided by Article 7 of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014, and the Procedure for Carrying out International Cooperation by the Eurasian Economic Union approved by Decision No. 99 of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council dated December 23, 2014. In accordance with paragraph 5 of the said Procedure, the Main Directions of the Eurasian Economic Union International Activities are formed.

As of November 10, 2022 The EEC has concluded 46 memorandums with international organizations, 27 memorandums with governments, ministries and departments of the third countries, 14 memorandums with regional integration and interstate associations, 7 trade agreements with third countries.

Outcomes of EEC Council’s meeting on November 25, 2022

The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission at its meeting on November 25 established uniform requirements for chocolate, chocolate products and cocoa products.

https://eec.eaeunion.org/news/v-eaes-ustanovleny-novye-obstoyatelstva-prekrashcheniya-obyazannosti-po-uplate-tamozhennykh-platezhe/EAEU establishes new conditions for terminating obligation to pay customs duties.

https://eec.eaeunion.org/news/sovet-eek-vnes-izmeneniya-v-tekhreglament-soyuza-o-bezopasnosti-zheleznodorozhnogo-podvizhnogo-sosta/EEC Council amended Union's technical regulation "On Safety of Railway Rolling Stock".

EAEU considered information on the implementation of the Action Plan to increase the level of provision of the EAEU states with strategically important medicines and pharmaceutical substances for medical use, the production of which should be provided in the EAEU until 2024.

Draft Agreement on Cross-Border Admission to Placement and Circulation of Securities on Exchange Trading in the EAEU States was approved.

Proposals on the agenda of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which is scheduled for December 9 in Bishkek, were considered.
The next face-to-face meeting of the EEC Council will be held on December 14 in Moscow.

EAEU establishes new conditions for terminating obligation to pay customs duties

The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted the decision to terminate the obligation to pay customs duties that had previously arisen concerning the goods being in customs warehousing during some customs operations with such goods due to their declaring or leaving the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The decision will ensure the principle of a single taxation of goods imported into the Union with customs payments, and will have a positive impact on the business environment.

EEC Council amended Union's technical regulations "On Safety of Railway Rolling Stock"

Amendments to the Union's technical regulation "On Safety of Railway Rolling Stock" clarified the possibility of issuing a certificate of conformity for products which components are subject to confirmation of compliance with the requirements of the technical regulation, provided that these components have also undergone the appropriate procedure.
Simultaneously, until December 31, 2023, it is allowed to put into circulation the (cassette-type) rolling bearings for axle boxes of locomotives and multi-unit rolling stock provided that they have certificates of conformity based on bench tests in the amount of at least half of the conditional mileage, followed by their controlled operation until the mileage is reached in full.
 

In addition, the EEC Council considered the Board of the Commission's report on monitoring the implementation of the plan for developing the EAEU's technical regulations and amendments thereto.

The EEC Council issued the order determining the plan implementation measures to further implement the development plan and activate the EAEU countries' activities.

The EEC Council established uniform requirements to chocolate, chocolate products and cocoa products

The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission has amended the Technical Regulation of the Customs Union "On Food Safety". The changes include the establishment of uniform requirements to chocolate, chocolate products and cocoa products in the EAEU countries.
According to changes in the technical regulations, chocolate includes bitter, dark, ordinary, sweet, milk, extra milk, white chocolate, chocolate with filling and chocolate powder; chocolate products include confectionery products that contain 25% or more of the separated component of chocolate from the total mass of the product; cocoa products include cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, cocoa nibs and cocoa cake.

According to the new mandatory requirements, chocolate put into circulation in the EAEU shall contain 35% or more of the total cocoa solids, including 18% or more of cocoa butter.

It is not allowed to use animal fats in chocolate manufacture, except for milk fat, but it is allowed to use cocoa butter equivalents and (or) SOS-type cocoa butter improvers, which the total mass fraction in chocolate shall not exceed 5%.

In chocolate and cocoa products manufacture, it is not allowed to use flavors that imitate the taste and (or) aroma of chocolate or cocoa products. In manufacture of milk, extra milk and white chocolate, it is not allowed to use flavors that imitate the taste and (or) aroma of milk or cream, milk fat.

Filled chocolate shall contain 25% or more of the outside layer of the chocolate separable from the filling. However, chocolate with filling does not include bakery (including rich) products, flour confectionery and chocolate-covered ice cream.

Changes in the technical regulations will contribute to the saturation of the consumer market with quality products.

The document is developed by the Belarusian State Food Industry Concern (Belgospishcheprom). The requirements to chocolate are harmonized with the international standards of the Codex Alimentarius.

The document shall come into effect after 210 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

Outcomes of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s meeting on October 20-21, 2022

The Heads of Governments of the Eurasian Economic Union countries considered 23 issues at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s meeting held on October 20-21 in Yerevan (the Republic of Armenia) in a face-to-face format.

Prime Ministers of the EAEU countries have developed coordinated approaches on the sources and mechanism of concessional financing of industrial cooperation at the expense of the additionally formed budget of the Union.

Following the results of the EIC, Chairman of the EEC Board Mikhail Myasnikovich noted at a media scrum that industrial cooperation is not just a mutual supply of raw materials, components and intermediate goods, but this involves joint integration projects.

"In this situation, financing sources are also planned, which will be used to subsidize interest rates on loans determined for business communities for the implementation of these projects. This is actually a new page of our integration. This issue will be submitted to a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council so that the Commission, together with governments, would be able to allocate certain amounts to support cooperation projects. We are talking about 10% deductions from anti-dumping and other protective duties that are formed in the EAEU. Annually, this amount is from 190 to 230 million US dollars, and 10% of these deductions can be directed to support projects by reducing the cost, subsidizing interest rates, which should not exceed the key rate," Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council examined a report on joint import substitution projects implemented by the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union. 25 projects were implemented in the EAEU in the automotive industry, machine tool building, electrical engineering and a number of other industries in 2021-2022.

The Heads of Governments of the EAEU countries approved a report on the results of the annual monitoring and analysis of the implementation of the Main Directions for Industrial Cooperation (MDIC) within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council adopted a disposition according to which companies of interested EAEU countries will have access to the Russian Industrial Zone in the Arab Republic of Egypt on equal terms with Russian business, including access to the created infrastructure and other working conditions.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council instructed the Eurasian Economic Commission, together with the governments of the EAEU countries, to ensure the implementation of the roadmap as part of the climate agenda.

The Heads of Governments of the EAEU countries instructed the governments to consider the possibility of participation of accreditation bodies in the Regional Accrediting Organization (RAO) and assist the authorized bodies of the parties in resolving organizational and financial issues related to its creation and functioning.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council instructed to conduct an experiment on the use of electronic navigation seals in the transportation of goods by rail and road transport in mutual trade between the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

The next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will be held on February 2-3, 2023 in Almaty (the Republic of Kazakhstan).

The meeting was attended by Akylbek Zhaparov, Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, Chairman of the Cabinet Council - Head of the Administration of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. From representatives of the Observer States at the EAEU - Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Manuel Marrero Cruz (in the format of a video message).

Documents signed following the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting

- Disposition "On the situation to remove obstacles in the domestic market of the Eurasian Economic Union".

- Disposition "On conducting an experiment to test the use of navigation seals in the transportation of goods by rail and/or road modes of transport between the territories of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation using electronic navigation seals".

- Disposition "On the functioning of the Russian Industrial Zone in the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal in the Arab Republic of Egypt".

- Decision "On the draft decision of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
"On the approval of the Target Program for the Development of the Integrated Information System of the Eurasian Economic Union until 2027"".

- Disposition "On the state of mutual trade between Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2021".

- Disposition "On the results of annual monitoring and analysis of the implementation of the Main Directions of Industrial Cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union".

- Disposition "On the transfer and distribution of import customs duties between the budgets of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States in 2021".

- Disposition "On the time and venue of holding the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council".

Information Support Section of the EEC Organizational Support and Protocol Department

EAEU countries’ Heads of Governments approved report on results of annual monitoring and analysis of implementing Main Directions of Industrial Cooperation

At a meeting on October 20-21, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council approved a report on the results of the annual monitoring and analysis of the implementation of the Main Directions for Industrial Cooperation (MDIC) within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The report noted that the values of indicators for the development of industry and cooperative cooperation in the Union for 2021 allow us to talk about positive aspects in the development of the industry of the Member States.

Thus, an increase in the volume of industrial production was noticed in all countries of the Union. Moreover, in the Union as a whole, this figure increased by more than 5%. The volume of mutual cooperative deliveries increased by 40%.

At the same time, taking into account the ongoing changes in the economic situation and external challenges, the industrial bloc of the Commission, together with the state authorities of the countries of the Union, developed and presented in the report proposals on the priorities for further development of integration in the industrial sector and the prompt elimination of the negative impact on the industrial sector of the parties.

The report will be sent to the governments of the Union States. In the near future, the guidelines for the development of industrial cooperation presented in the document will become an important tool for coordinating actions to implement the measures set forth in the MDIC, and will also contribute to the solution of the tasks set in all areas of Eurasian industrial integration.

 For reference

Preparation of the report is provided for in Article 92 of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as in the Main Directions of Industrial Cooperation within the EAEU.

Information Support Section of the EEC Organizational Support and Protocol Department

EAEU defines sources and mechanisms of financial support for industrial cooperation

At a meeting on October 20 in Yerevan, the Heads of Governments of the Eurasian Economic Union countries, for the first time in ten years of the EEC's existence, developed coordinated approaches regarding sources and mechanism for concessional financing of industrial cooperation at the expense of the Union's additionally formed budget funds.

Thanks to this instrument, the most promising multilateral projects in the EAEU will receive financial support through subsidizing the rate on loans issued by international and national financial organizations of the Union.

In terms of the documents adopted, for further arrangement of work, Member States confirmed the need to develop uniform rules and priorities for financing cooperation projects.

"The Heads of Governments of the Eurasian Economic Union countries supported the need to endow the Commission with new powers to organize activities at the supranational level to work with projects and provide financial support. However, the key priorities for us will be: the participation of three or more parties in the project, the formation of added value in the cooperation chain, financial efficiency and sustainability, and growth of mutual trade and investment," emphasized Artak Kamalyan, the EEC Minister in charge of Industry and Agro-Industrial Complex.

According to the plans for further work in this direction, the issues of new powers of the EEC, development and adoption of a funding procedure, approval of common criteria and industries for the implementation of cooperation projects, a detailed financing mechanism and a number of other issues will be considered during 2023.

"This will help us to move to a new level of integration in the real sector of the economy," the EEC Minister concluded.

Information Support Section of the EEC Organizational Support and Protocol Department

EAEU countries’ business community enabled to take advantage of Russian Industrial Zone in Egypt

Companies fr om interested countries of the Eurasian Economic Union will have access to the Russian Industrial Zone in the Arab Republic of Egypt on equal terms with Russian business, including access to the created infrastructure and other working conditions.

The authorized bodies of the Russian Federation, with the participation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, will hold a presentation for the authorities and companies from the EAEU countries and inform about the implementation of activities on the territory of the industrial zone. The relevant disposition was adopted by the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan on October 21.

"The application of joint measures to develop exports is provided for by the EAEU Treaty. In addition, the Strategy until 2025 stipulates the expansion of the joint use of foreign export infrastructure," said the EEC Minister for Trade Andrey Slepnev.

According to him, the participation of the Union's companies in the activities of the industrial zone in Egypt will contribute to the expansion of markets for the EAEU products. Moreover, we mean not only the territory of the Arab Republic of Egypt, but also the entire African region, wh ere products from the industrial zone can be delivered duty-free.

"In addition, cooperation between the enterprises of the Union will be developed, which will also contribute to the solution of priority tasks within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union," Andrey Slepnev added.

EEC starting to implement roadmap as part of climate agenda

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council instructed the Eurasian Economic Commission, together with the governments of the EAEU countries, to ensure the implementation of the roadmap as part of the climate agenda.

"The implementation of the package of measures will give the integration association a new impetus in terms of joint efforts to develop technologies and industrial cooperation, and will also increase the competitiveness of the EAEU products in the global market," noted Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister for Trade. "Moreover, it will be possible to prevent the emergence of trade barriers in the Union market caused by differences in national regulation."

Totally, the roadmap includes seven areas:

- analysis of national legislative regulation in the climate sphere and preparation of proposals for the development of common approaches therein;

- development of proposals for the formation of joint market and non-market mechanisms for carbon regulation to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement;

- determination of measures to stimulate low-emission transformation in the following industries, with regard to competence: transport, energy, metallurgy, chemical industry, construction, agriculture;

- Eurasian low-carbon development initiatives;

- green financing;

- formation of a Bank of Climate Technologies and Digital Initiatives;

- coordination in the field of international trade relations on the climate agenda issues and other interaction in order to promote the interests of the EAEU Member States in the climate sphere in the international arena.

For reference

Within the EAEU framework, a High-Level Working Group (HLWG) was set up to develop proposals for rapprochement of the positions of the EAEU Member States in terms of the climate agenda. The HLWG is headed by the EEC Minister for Trade Andrey Slepnev. Based on the proposals received from the countries of the Union, the composition of the HLWG was approved at the level of deputy heads of the authorized bodies of the Member States.

On October 14, 2021, a Statement on Economic Cooperation between the EAEU Member States within the framework of the climate agenda was adopted at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. The draft statement was prepared by the HLWG. This document, signed on the eve of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, sets the vector for the formation of agreed approaches in this area within the framework of the integration association.

At the HLWG site, active work was carried out to agree on the First Package of Measures (Roadmap) of the EAEU as part of the climate agenda in order to prevent barriers and restrictions in the internal market of the Union and maintain competitiveness of the economies of the EAEU Member States in the context of global technological transformation and changes in the structure of the global economy.

Mikhail Myasnikovich took part in a meeting of EAEU countries' Heads of Governments with Vahagn Khachaturian, President of Armenia

On October 21 in Yerevan, Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Board, took part in the meeting of the heads of delegations of the EAEU Member States with Vahagn Khachaturian, President of the Republic of Armenia, on the eve of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting.

President Vahagn Khachaturian noted that the current EIC meeting will contribute to further development of the economy, the expansion of Eurasian integration processes and the strengthening of mechanisms for ensuring the economic security of the EAEU countries.

"I am sincerely confident that only through joint efforts we shall be able to confidently move forward by creating new opportunities for improving the quality of life and increasing well-being of the peoples of our countries. I consider it important to emphasize that in the current conditions, when our peoples are facing new global and regional challenges, we need to use all the available means and resources in order to strengthen cooperation, coordinate and effectively implement the decisions made," Vahagn Khachaturyan said.

The meeting was attended by Akylbek Zhaparov, Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, Chairman of the Cabinet Council of the Kyrgyz Republic, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, as well as Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Information Support Section of the EEC Organizational Support and Protocol Department

Decision made to conduct an experiment on tracking goods transportation using electronic navigation seals

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council instructed to conduct an experiment on the use of electronic navigation seals in the transportation of goods by rail and road transport in mutual trade between the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

The experiment will allow testing information systems, developing a mechanism for using navigation seals and preparing participants in foreign economic activity for the introduction of tracking goods transportation using electronic navigation seals in the EAEU.

EAEU countries to continue work on creating Regional Accrediting Organization

At a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on October 21, Prime Ministers of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union instructed the governments of the EAEU countries to consider the possibility of participation of accrediting bodies in the Regional Accrediting Organization (RAO) and assist the relevant authorized bodies in resolving organizational, financial issues related to its creation and functioning.

"The creation of the Regional Accrediting Organization will contribute to the convergence of accreditation procedures in the Union in order to increase confidence in the results of conformity assessment of products and protect the EAEU common market," the EEC Minister Viktor Nazarenko noted. "No doubt, however, that it can become one of the most effective tools to prevent the establishment of technical barriers to trade with third countries, and will also create conditions for increasing export of the Union goods to the markets of the CIS and far-abroad countries."

The most important goal of such a regional organization will be the promotion of common interests and increasing the authority of the accreditation systems of the EAEU countries in the international arena. It will also contribute to the creation of an effective mechanism for ensuring free trade in the CIS and the EAEU.

Earlier during 2021–2022, on behalf of the Heads of Governments of the Eurasian Economic Union's States, the Commission and the Council of Heads of Accreditation Bodies worked out in detail the issues of creating a Regional Accrediting Organization for the Eurasian Region.

Based on the general conclusion that it is expedient for the Union to create such an organization, the Commission's report outlines the principles and conditions for its work, i.e. the participation of national accreditation bodies of the CIS and the EAEU Member States, its international recognition, the presence of a permanent working body located in one of the countries of the EAEU (the CIS). The preferred format of interaction between the Commission and the Regional Accrediting Organization after its establishment has also been defined, i.e. through the signing of an appropriate partnership agreement.

EAEU implemented 25 projects in automotive industry, machine tool building, electrical engineering and a number of other industries in 2021-2022

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council examined a report on joint import substitution projects implemented by the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The report provides information on the implementation of 25 projects totaling more than US$20 billion in import-dependent industries, including automotive, machine tool, electrical, chemical, medical, and pulp and paper industries in 2021-2022. Information about these projects is structured on the EAEU Industrialization Map, which is an industrial information resource posted on the website of the integration association.

"We have serious opportunities for deepening integration form of cooperation on import substitution in industry," Artak Kamalyan noted. "According to the EAEU Industrialization Map, there are more than 50 projects that either arouse a direct interest in integration or project manufacturers are aimed at supplying products to the Union countries."

Six projects are already being implemented with an integration component in the automotive industry, the chemical and electrical industries, as well as in the production of logging equipment. These are, for example, the Belarusian-Russian project for the production of harvesters, forwarders, skidders and timber loaders in Karelia and the Kazakhstan-Russian project for the production of mineral fertilizers and the development of deposits in the Karatau-Zhanatas phosphate basin.

According to EEC Minister, the Industrialization Map now includes 158 projects in 25 industries totaling more than US$270 billion. US dollars. Both already defined as cooperative and potentially cooperative industrial projects in the Union are implemented mainly in import-dependent areas. A significant number of projects in various industries have prospects for integrated cooperation between enterprises of the EAEU countries.

The EEC Minister emphasized that the data of the report can be taken into account by the governments of the EAEU countries when involving producers in the cooperative chains of the Union, state support of certain investment projects, implementation of international projects, localization of production.

"When developing cooperative ties between our manufacturers, we must take into account their industry-wise specialization, scientific, technical and production capabilities. The fundamental factor in the development of import substitution in the Union is the development of a scientific and technical base in import-dependent areas," concluded the EEC Minister.

Information Support Section of the EEC Organizational Support and Protocol Department