Translated material
We'll have to bargain
The customs union may prove to be an obstacle to the new CIS Free Trade Agreement
Today a meeting of the CIS Economic Council will be held in Moscow. The first item on the meeting agenda is the discussion of the draft new Free Trade Agreement within the Commonwealth. The day before, the text of this document was discussed at a meeting of economic ministers of the CIS countries. But the parties have not yet been able to reach a consensus.Opening the meeting, Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina said: “The agreement has been basically agreed upon. According to our estimates, it can be signed in the coming months. I propose to show pragmatism and resolve the remaining differences.” But as a result of the meeting, the timing turned out to be different. “We hope to complete this work within six months,” the minister told reporters. “The next meeting of the Economic Council is due to take place in March 2011. We expect to come to him with the final version of the agreement, so that it can be signed at the May meeting of the CIS heads of state,” explained the chairman of the executive committee, CIS executive secretary Sergei Lebedev.
According to Ms. Nabiullina, the document has been prepared and only a few disagreements remain to be resolved. Among these disagreements are the provision of national treatment in relation to government procurement and its extension to goods and their suppliers; extending freedom of transit to pipeline transport; the need to speed up the process of ratification of the agreement on the rules for determining the country of origin of goods in the CIS.
The main provisions of the agreement are based on the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization. The document fixes the application of rules for determining the country of origin of goods, issues of freedom of transit, re-export, special protective measures, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, provision of subsidies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs administration, dispute resolution rules.
As a source in the Russian delegation told Vremya Novostei, one of the main difficulties is related to the creation of the Customs Union by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and further plans to create a single economic space. It is not yet entirely clear how these two free modes should be combined.
In general, the agreement is designed to combat artificial restrictions in mutual trade. There were especially many of them during the crisis. The treaty should abolish them, but at the same time some exceptions in it will be preserved. In particular, the source explained, restrictions will be introduced on the circulation of tobacco and alcohol. In addition, it is necessary to find a balance between the interests of different countries. The treaty should support producers in some countries so as not to disrupt the production of similar goods in other countries.
In addition, during the time that has passed since the adoption of the previous agreement, some CIS countries, for example Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moldova, have already become members of the WTO, and this should also be reflected in the final document. After all, they have more obligations to the outside world than other CIS members. At the end of October, it was decided to hold another meeting of CIS economic ministers on this issue.
The current legal framework consists of the 1994 Free Trade Agreement and its 1999 Protocol. These documents are morally outdated, exceptions and hidden restrictions have appeared. Preparations for a new comprehensive agreement began in 2009. The CIS countries are taking part in the discussion, with the exception of Turkmenistan, which, thanks to its status as a neutral state, has practically excluded itself from participation in the Commonwealth. Azerbaijan is participating in the negotiations as an observer and will make a decision on joining the treaty after its finalization.