OREANDA-NEWS. On May 29, 2007, by his Decree, the Belarusian Head of State, Alexander Lukashenko, approved the draft Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Transit of Goods Transported between the Customs Bodies of the Republic of Belarus and the Customs Bodies of the Russian Federation as a basis for further talks, reported the Presidential website www.president.gov.by.

The document regulates the order of issuing permits for the transit of goods, the permits being issued by the customs bodies of the negotiating parties, and the order of identifying the location and time of delivery of goods for which transit permits have been obtained. The document entitles legal entities acting as customs carriers to transporting goods in transit under customs control without customs escort and without ensuring the payment of customs fees.

The draft agreement provides an integrated approach to regulating of the issues of paying customs fees and recovering debts with regard to customs fees into the budgets of the negotiating parties.

Under the document, the parties are to exchange information about the goods in transit between the customs bodies of the two countries, about transit permits, about the completion of transit movement, about the documents that confirm that customs fees have been paid, about violations of customs laws, about money transferred and other information.

The Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Alexander Shpilevsky, has been authorised to hold the talks and sign the agreement.

Once signed, the agreement will make it possible to enhance transit flows to the Russian Federation across the Republic of Belarus and create the appropriate legal base for the functioning of the Belarusian-Russian transit system.