OREANDA-NEWS. November 16, 2009. First Deputy Head of the Russian FCS Vladimir Malinin met with the ambassadors of Latin America at the Federal Customs Service. The meeting was devoted to the development of customs cooperation.

The meeting was attended by the ambassadors and ranking diplomatic officials from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Columbia, Costa-Rika, Cuba, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Chile. 
As noted at the meeting bilateral trade between Russia and Latin America is constantly increasing. From 1992 to 2008 it increased tenfold and reached almost USD 14 billion. With the increase in the commodity turnover the number of problems and questions faced by the participants of foreign trade activity while working with Russian customs authorities grows.

Close cooperation of customs services of the countries and exchange of information on transported goods, their volume and value, peculiarities of national customs legislations could contribute to solving these problems. But such cooperation needs legal basis.

Currently contractual legal framework between Russia and Latin America consists of six intergovernmental agreements on cooperation and mutual aid in customs affairs: with Argentina (1997), Brazil (2001), Chile (2002), Mexico (2003), Columbia (2004), Ecuador (2009). These agreements operate mainly to the extent of information exchange in law-enforcement field of customs cooperation.

This year the Russian FCS have prepared proposals touching on widening relations with customs services of Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. Projects of intergovernmental agreements on cooperation and mutual aid in customs affairs were also developed and submitted to foreign colleagues through diplomatic channels for consideration in March.

Project of Memorandum on Cooperation in Customs Statistics with Customs Service of Argentina is at the stage of final endorsement.

At the meeting representatives of the Russian FCS proposed to conclude interdepartmental agreements with customs serviced of Latin American states on the exchange of information on transported goods and vehicles and draw a memorandum on value information exchange on goods, imported to the Russian Federation from Latin America.

To facilitate customs clearance of goods, coming from Latin American countries and enjoying tariff preferences, officers of the Russian FCS proposed to set a mechanism of the exchange of information on certificates of the country of origin of goods, form “A”.

The approach of the Federal Customs Service to the development and strengthening of cooperation with customs services of Latin American countries are quite concrete and topical. They are aimed chiefly at the creation of favorable conditions for the development of legal foreign trade with the maintaining of due security level.

The Russian FCS is ready to widen contacts with customs officers of Latin American states for the purpose of discussion of relevant questions, connected with customs and search for effective methods of solving current problems.