OREANDA-NEWS. March 12, 2010. The development of the external borders of the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan will be discussed at a session of the Union State Council of Ministers in Brest on 16 March, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said as he met with State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin.

“The issues related to the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan should be included in the agenda of the session of the Union State government,” Sergei Sidorsky said. According to him, Brest which is the border between Belarus and the EU will also be the external border of the Customs Union in the west. “We have done a lot there by ourselves and something in cooperation with the European Union. We build terminals that meet European requirements and implement projects to develop the external borders,” the Belarusian head of government said. The participants of the session will also discuss the inspection of goods passing through the external borders and phytosanitary control.

Upon the proposal of the Russian side, the Union State government will discuss a number of agreements that were in effect within the framework of the Union State.

“We need to reconcile the issues that will be addressed at the session of the Union State government, clarify some points before the session begins,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

There are 26 items on the agenda of the session and they are rather complicated, the State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin said. They had been discussed in detail at bilateral meetings and sessions of joint boards of the ministries and agencies of the two countries. As an example the State Secretary of the Union State mentioned a joint session of the two border guard services in Brest. “We discussed border accomplishment matters, trying to use a comprehensive approach. Apart from that migration and customs matters within the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan were discussed,” he said.

A draft program of Belarus-Russia cooperation in fuel and energy industry will be discussed at a session of the Union State Council of Ministers, Pavel Borodin told. The agenda also includes the matter of determining the demand for the most important products in 2010, decisions to be made on the transportation of commodities to the Union State, discussions about prospects of uniting the two countries’ transport systems.

The State Secretary of the Union State added that the session of the Union State cabinet will discuss procedures for working out and adopting Union programs. Special attention will be paid to the problem of property management within the framework of the Union State.