Union State Strengthens Its Position in International Trade

The third round of negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement about free trade between the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (CU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, was conducted in early September in Geneva. A new meeting will be held in Minsk this November. The position of the Union State has become the main collective position of the CU, which, in its turn, made it possible to work out interest-balancing schemes with the partners from the EFTA.

The third round of negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement about free trade between the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (CU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, was conducted in early September in Geneva. A new meeting will be held in Minsk this November. The position of the Union State has become the main collective position of the CU, which, in its turn, made it possible to work out interest-balancing schemes with the partners from the EFTA.

According to experts’ assessments, CU-EFTA free trade zone can significantly increase the volume of mutual bloc trade and exchange of direct investment. Moreover, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Trade Negotiations Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Belgium-Luxembourg Customs Union, New Zealand, Vietnam, Egypt, Syria and Mongolia are also showing interest in a free trade agreement with the Union State and the CU. Furthermore, on September 2^nd the Chamber of Commerce and Industry informed the observer of “SOYUZ” that the same interest was expressed by Morocco.

The highest level of consistency of foreign policy in the CIS between Russia and Belarus has enabled the Customs Union to reach a common stand on free trade with far-abroad countries. As for the major prerequisites for the involvement of the Union State and the CU in these projects, according to Robert Abdullin, president of the World Organization of Creditors, “for internal and external economic reasons many states are now interested in new stable markets and bloc relations with the Union State and the Customs Union. It is also beneficial to the whole of the CU. Intensification of these trends is provoked by an aggravating crisis in the Eurozone, which, first of all, affects the interests of the EFTA countries and many other developing countries”. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to Russia Walter Bruno Gyger holds a similar opinion: “Negotiations between the CU and the EFTA are being conducted on an interbloc level, and one of the most important issues is the removal of barriers to mutual investment”.

According to the Foreign Ministry of Belarus and the Ministry of Economic Integration Issues of Kazakhstan, during the Geneva round of negotiations, their participants discussed regulatory issues of trade in goods and services, the problems of investment and intellectual property rights, the rules of origin (to prevent illegal re-export to the regions of the CU and EFTA), coordination and simplification of customs procedures. CU delegation was informed about the system of tariff protection of the agricultural produce markets in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland due to the high level of state protectionism on the agricultural markets in these countries.

EFTA countries have proposed the Union State and the CU a step by step scheme: gradual simplification of access to the EFTA countries for agricultural products from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. A similar scheme is proposed for EFTA agricultural products to the countries of the Customs Union.

According to the CU delegation, “the ultimate goal of the negotiations is the signing of an agreement on free trade zone”.

According to “Soyuz. Belarus – Rossiya”