OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2011. The procedures for conducting export and import transactions in Belarus have been amended as business entities have been offered additional possibilities for making foreign trade transactions while the state establishes adequate control of the deals. President Alexander Lukashenko signed relevant ordinance #347 on August 9, the press service of the president said.

Registration of transactions will be based on the contract itself, not separate annexes; payments for registration of transactions by banks will be cancelled.

Also, registration of transactions not involving transfer of commodities is abolished. These include contracts for services, provision of protected information and intellectual property rights.

Furthermore, the document provides for more possibilities for closing export transactions – by way of receiving alternative compensations in case of the loss of goods and selling commodities to other non-residents. Transactions are also closed if commodities are confiscated, if the contractor is recognized as a bankrupt and as a result of a court ruling.

Traders are obliged to inform banks about the closure of earlier registered export transactions in order to facilitate monitoring and control.

The ordinance comes into effect three months after the official publication.