EAEC customs union countries. International organizations: members

The Customs Union is an organization designed to facilitate the management of external economic activity between the countries of Eurasia. At the moment in list of countries of the customs union includes the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In this article, we will dwell in more detail on the history of the union, as well as on the rights and obligations that its members have.

Customs Union: stages of formation

The Customs Union was first created in 1995, when six member countries signed the first agreement on the start of this organization. Initially, the list of countries of the customs union included Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but later they (for a number of reasons) withdrew from this union. The customs union was finally secured by a document dated 2007, and in 2011 the entire customs control was taken out of the states that are members of the union. Thus, trade and transportation of goods within the countries that are part of this organization is greatly simplified.

AT different time other countries from the continent wanted to join the Customs Union. For example, in 2013, such an intention was expressed by Syria and Tajikistan. And in 2016, such a possibility was even discussed in Tunisia. Under special conditions, trade is also carried out with Serbia, which has signed agreements on the simplification of the customs regime with all countries of the Customs Union. Many mistakenly believe that Ukraine was also included in the list of countries of the customs union. However, in fact, such an agreement was never signed, as it was not compatible with Ukraine's intentions to join the EU.

Benefits of a customs union

The Customs Union is an agreement adopted by the members of the Eurasian Economic Union, the purpose of which is cancellation of customs payments in trade relations. Based on these agreements, common ways implementation of economic activities, a platform for quality assessment and certification.

This achieves abolition of customs control on the borders within the Union, are general provisions regulation of economic activity for the external borders of the CU. In view of this, a common customs space is being created, using a generally accepted approach to the implementation of border controls. One more distinctive feature is the equality of citizens of the customs area during employment.

In 2018, the Customs Union consists of the next members of the EAEU:

• Republic of Armenia (since 2015);
• Republic of Belarus (since 2010);
• Republic of Kazakhstan (since 2010);
• Kyrgyz Republic (since 2015);
• Russian Federation (since 2010).

The desire to become a party to this agreement was voiced by Syria and Tunisia. In addition, it is known about the proposal to include Turkey in the CU agreement. However, no specific procedures have been adopted so far for the entry of these states into the ranks of the Union.

It is clearly seen that the functioning of the Customs Union is a good help to strengthen economic relations countries located on the territory of the former Soviet countries. It can also be said that the approach established in the agreement by the participating countries speaks of restoration of lost ties in modern conditions.

Customs duties are distributed using a single shared distribution mechanism.

Given this information, it can be stated that the Customs Union, as we know it today, serves serious tool for the economic unification of the countries that are members of the EAEU.

To understand what the activities of the Customs Union are, it will not be superfluous to get an understanding of how it was formed to its current state.

The emergence of the Customs Union was initially presented as one of the steps in the integration of the CIS countries. This was evidenced in the agreement on the establishment of an economic union, signed on September 24, 1993.

Step by step moving towards this goal, in 1995, two states (Russia and Belarus) concluded an agreement between themselves on the establishment of the Customs Union. Later, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan also entered this group.

More than 10 years later, in 2007, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed a pact to unite their territories into a single customs region and establish the Customs Union.

In order to specify the previously concluded agreements, from 2009 to 2010 more than 40 additional agreements were concluded. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan decided that, starting from 2012, a Common Market due to the unification of countries into a single economic space.

On July 1, 2010, another important agreement was concluded, which launched the work of the Customs Code.

On July 1, 2011, the current customs control at the borders between the countries was canceled and general rules on the borders with states that are not in agreement. Until 2013, uniform legislative norms for the parties to the agreement are being formed.

2014 - The Republic of Armenia is a member of the Customs Union. 2015 - The Republic of Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Customs Union.

On January 1, 2018, a new unified Customs Code of the EAEU. It was created to automate and simplify a number of customs processes.

Territory and administration

Consolidation of borders Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan became the basis for the emergence of the Common Customs Space. This is how the territory of the Customs Union was formed. In addition, it includes certain territories or objects under the jurisdiction of the parties to the agreement.

The limit of the territory is the border of the Customs Union with third-party states. Moreover, the existence of a border near certain territories that are under the jurisdiction of the Member States of the Union is normatively fixed.

The Eurasian Economic Union is managed and coordinated by two organs:

1. Interstate Council – supreme body supranational nature, consists of heads of state and heads of government of the Customs Union.
2. Commission of the Customs Union- an agency that deals with issues related to the formation of customs rules and regulates foreign trade policy.

Directions and conditions

By creating the Customs Union, the countries proclaimed the main goal social and economic progress. In the future, this implies an increase in trade and services that are produced by economic entities.

The increase in sales was originally expected directly in the space of the vehicle itself due to following conditions:

1. The abolition of customs procedures within the Union, which was supposed to make products manufactured within the framework of a single space more attractive, due to.
2. Increasing trade through the abolition of customs control at internal borders.
3. Adoption of uniform requirements and integration of security standards.

Achievement of goals and perspectives

Having collected the available information about the emergence and activities of the Customs Union, we can conclude that the results of increasing the turnover of goods and services are published much less frequently than let's say the news about the signing of new agreements, i.e. its declarative part.

But, nevertheless, analyzing the stated goals during the creation of the CU, as well as observing their implementation, one cannot remain silent that the simplification of trade has been achieved, the competitive conditions for economic entities of the CU states have been improved.

It follows from this that the Customs Union is on the way to achieving its goals, however, in addition to time, this requires the mutual interest of both the states themselves and economic elements within the Union.

The customs union is made up of countries that have the same economic past, but today these states are very different from each other. Of course, and in Soviet time The republics differed in their specialization, but after gaining independence, there were still a lot of changes that affect the world market and the division of labor.

However, there are also common interests. For example, many participating countries remained dependent on Russian market sales. This trend is economic and geopolitical in nature.

All through the time leading positions in the process of integration and stabilization of the EAEU and the Customs Union played the Russian Federation. This was possible thanks to its stable economic growth until 2014, when commodity prices remained high, which helped to finance the processes launched by the agreements.

Although such a policy did not predict rapid economic growth, it nevertheless assumed the strengthening of Russia's position on the world stage.

The history of relations between the parties to the agreements is similar to a series of compromises that were built on the basis of the role of Russia and the positions of the partner countries. For example, there were repeated statements from Belarus about its priorities: a common economic space with the same prices for oil and gas, admission to public procurement of the Russian Federation.

To achieve these goals, the Republic went to increase tariffs on imported cars in the absence of its own production. Because of these measures, it was necessary to establish product certification rules light industry which hurt the retail industry.

In addition, the standards adopted at the CU level were unified with the WTO model, despite the fact that Belarus is not a member of this organization, unlike Russia. Enterprises of the Republic have not received access to Russia's programs for import substitution.

All this served as obstacles for Belarus on the way to achieve its goals in full.

It should not be overlooked that the signed CU agreements contain various exceptions, clarifications, anti-dumping and countervailing measures that have become an obstacle to achieving common benefits and equal conditions for all countries. At various times, virtually every party to the agreement expressed disagreement with the terms of the agreements.

Although customs posts on the borders between the parties to the agreement were eliminated, preserved border zones between countries. Sanitary control at internal borders also continued. The absence of trusting relationships in the practice of interaction was revealed. An example of this is the disagreements that flare up from time to time between Russia and Belarus.

To date, it cannot be said that the goals that were declared in the agreement on the creation of the CU have been achieved. This can be seen from the decrease in the turnover of goods within the customs area. There are also no benefits for economic development, when compared with the time before the signing of agreements.

But there are still signs that in the absence of an agreement, the situation would worsen more rapidly. The manifestation of the crisis would have had a larger and deeper character. A significant number of enterprises gain relative benefits by participating in trade relations within the Customs Union.

The methods of distributing customs duties among countries also indicate favorable trends for the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Initially, a large share in the budget of the Russian Federation was supposed.

The agreements signed by the parties benefited the production of cars. Duty-free sale of cars assembled by manufacturers of participating countries has become available. Thus, conditions have been created for the implementation of projects who previously could not be successful.

What is a Customs Union? Details are on the video.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is an international integration economic association (union), the agreement on the creation of which was signed on May 29, 2014 and comes into force on January 1, 2015. The union included Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The EAEU was created on the basis of the Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) to strengthen the economies of the participating countries and "rapprochement with each other", to modernize and increase the competitiveness of the participating countries in the world market. The EAEU member states plan to continue economic integration in the coming years.

The history of the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union

In 1995, the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and later the acceding states - Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed the first agreements on the creation of the Customs Union. Based on these agreements, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) was created in 2000.

On October 6, 2007 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed an agreement on the creation of a unified customs territory and the Commission of the Customs Union as a single permanent governing body of the Customs Union.

The Eurasian Customs Union or the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia was born on January 1, 2010. The customs union was launched as a first step towards the formation of a broader European Union type of economic union of the former Soviet republics.

The establishment of the Eurasian Customs Union was guaranteed by 3 different treaties signed in 1995, 1999 and 2007. The first treaty in 1995 guaranteed its creation, the second in 1999 guaranteed its formation, and the third in 2007 announced the creation of a single customs territory and the formation of a customs union.

The access of products to the territory of the Customs Union was granted after checking these products for compliance with the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union, which are applicable to these products. As of December 2012, 31 Technical Regulations of the Customs Union have been developed, which cover different kinds products, some of which have already entered into force, and some will enter into force before 2015. Some technical regulations are yet to be developed.

Before the Technical Regulations entered into force, the following rules were the basis for access to the market of the member countries of the Customs Union:

1. National certificate - for product access to the market of the country where this certificate was issued.

2. Certificate of the Customs Union - a certificate issued in accordance with the "List of products subject to mandatory assessment (confirmation) of conformity within the framework of the Customs Union", - such a certificate is valid in all three member countries of the Customs Union.

Since November 19, 2011, the member states have implemented the work of the joint commission (Eurasian Economic Commission) to strengthen closer economic ties to create the Eurasian Economic Union by 2015.

On January 1, 2012, the three states formed the Common Economic Space to promote further economic integration. All three countries have ratified the basic package of 17 agreements governing the launch of the Common Economic Space (CES).

May 29, 2014 in Astana (Kazakhstan) signed an agreement on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union.

On January 1, 2015, the EAEU began to function as part of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. On January 2, 2015, Armenia became a member of the EAEU. Kyrgyzstan announced its intention to participate in the EAEU.

Economy of the Eurasian Economic Union

The macroeconomic effect of the integration of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan into the EAEU is created by:

Reducing the prices of goods, due to a decrease in the cost of transporting raw materials or exporting finished products.

Stimulation of "healthy" competition in the common market of the EAEU due to an equal level of economic development.

Increasing competition in the common market of the Customs Union member countries due to the entry of new countries into the market.

Average increase wages by reducing costs and increasing productivity.

Increasing production due to increased demand for goods.

Increasing the well-being of the peoples of the EAEU countries, due to lower food prices and an increase in employment.

Increasing the payback of new technologies and products due to the increased market size.

At the same time, the signed version of the agreement on the creation of the EAEU was of a compromise nature, and therefore a number of planned measures were not implemented in full. In particular, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the Eurasian Economic Court have not received broad powers to control compliance with the agreements. If the EEC regulations are not followed, controversial issue considers the Eurasian Economic Court, whose decisions are only advisory in nature, and finally the issue is resolved at the level of the Council of Heads of State. Besides, topical issues on the creation of a single financial regulator, on the policy in the field of energy trade, as well as on the problem of the existence of exemptions and restrictions in trade between the EAEU participants were postponed until 2025 or indefinitely.

Characteristics of the EAEU countries (as of 2014)

Source - CIA World Factbook

Governing bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union

The governing bodies of the EAEU are the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is the supreme supranational body of the EAEU. The council includes heads of state and government. Supreme Council meets at the level of heads of state at least once a year, at the level of heads of government - at least twice a year. Decisions are made by consensus. Decisions made become mandatory in all participating States. The Council determines the composition and powers of other regulatory structures.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) is one permanent regulatory body (supranational governing body) in the EAEU. The main task of the EEC is to provide conditions for the development and functioning of the EAEU, as well as the development of initiatives for economic integration within the EAEU.

The powers of the Eurasian Economic Commission are defined in Article 3 of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Commission dated November 18, 2010. All rights and functions of the previously existing Commission of the Customs Union have been delegated to the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Within the competence of the Commission:

• customs tariffs and non-tariff regulation;
• customs administration;
• technical regulation;
• sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary measures;
• enrollment and distribution of import customs duties;
• establishment of trade regimes with third countries;
• statistics of foreign and domestic trade;
• macroeconomic policy;
• competition policy;
• industrial and agricultural subsidies;
• energy policy;
• natural monopolies;
• state and municipal purchases;
• domestic service trade and investment;
• transport and transportation;
• monetary policy;
• intellectual property and copyright;
• migration policy;
• financial markets (banking, insurance, currency and stock markets);
• and some other areas.

The Commission ensures the implementation of international treaties that make up the legal framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The Commission is also the depository of international treaties that constituted the legal framework of the CU and the CES, and now the EAEU, as well as decisions of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

Within its competence, the Commission adopts non-binding documents, such as recommendations, and may also make decisions that are binding on the member countries of the EAEU.

The budget of the Commission is made up of the contributions of the Member States and is approved by the Heads of the EAEU Member States.

Possible new members of the Eurasian Economic Union

The main contenders for joining the EAEU are Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In July 2014, news broke that Armenia would sign an agreement on joining the Eurasian Economic Union before September 10, 2014. There is information that negotiations between Armenia and the founding countries of the EAEU and the Eurasian Economic Commission have been completed. The agreement on the accession of Armenia to the EAEU is in the governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, where it is undergoing the necessary bureaucratic stages, and after the decision of the governments, the question of the place where the presidents of Armenia and the EAEU countries will meet to sign the agreement will be raised.

It is also reported that Kyrgyzstan may soon join the EAEU member countries. However, no specific deadlines have been set for this country's accession to the EAEU so far (previously, the date was announced - until the end of 2014). In addition, the population of the country, apparently, is not particularly eager to join the EAEU. This conclusion can be drawn based on civic activity in collecting signatures for a petition in support of Kyrgyzstan's accession to the Customs Union and the EAEU. To date, only 38 people have signed the petition.

Russians are also suspicious of Kyrgyzstan's possible accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). According to researchers, only 20% of those polled were in favor of joining the union of Kyrgyzstan, the same number of votes for Moldova. The most desirable country that the Russians would like to see as allies turned out to be Armenia. 45% of respondents voted for it.

Azerbaijan and Moldova are waiting for every fifth person in the EAEU (23% and 20% respectively). Only 17% of survey participants are in favor of joining the EAEU of Uzbekistan, while Tajikistan and Georgia - 14% each. Respondents spoke least of all in favor of attracting Ukraine to the Eurasian Economic Union - 10%. And 13% of respondents believe that the EAEU should not be expanded yet.

Poll of public opinion in the CIS regarding integration

Since 2012, the Eurasian Development Bank (established in Russia and Kazakhstan) has been conducting a regular survey of the opinions of residents of individual states regarding Eurasian integration projects. The following question was asked to residents of individual countries: “Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia united in the Customs Union, which freed trade between the three countries from duties, and created the Common Economic Space (in fact, the single market of the three countries). How do you feel about this decision?

The results of the answers "profitable" and "very profitable" are given below:

As you can see, the idea of ​​creating the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union as a whole is approved and looks “beneficial” in the eyes of the majority of the population of almost everyone, with the exception of Azerbaijan, the CIS countries and even Georgia.

Meanwhile, the US in its foreign policy oppose the Customs Union and the EAEU, arguing that this is an attempt to restore Russian dominance in the post-Soviet space and create a union like the USSR.

Interstate agreement in the form of collective protectionism different countries, providing for a single customs territory, was the Customs Union. This is a community where the participating states agreed to create common interstate bodies that coordinate and coordinate foreign trade policy. Meetings of ministers of the relevant departments are held periodically, whose work is entirely based on the permanently functioning interstate secretariat. A customs union is a form of integration between countries and the creation of supranational bodies. And it was another step towards integration into a more advanced form from the already existing free trade area. In 2015, on the basis of the Customs Union began its work new organization- Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Examples

In the nineteenth century, the German Customs Union was created, where the German states agreed to abolish customs barriers between their countries, and duties went to a common cash desk, where they were distributed among the participating countries according to the number of inhabitants. Probably, the German Customs Union is the first dress rehearsal for the creation of the European Customs Union, which is now functioning. The Eurasian Economic Union also joined forces on the problem of integration of the community's territories. This is a fusion of interstate forms of trade and economy between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan. Basically, it is this union that will be discussed in this article. In addition to those listed, there were at different times the customs unions of South African, East African (as a community), Mercosur, Andean Community and some others.

In October 2006 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) an agreement on trade integration between Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia was signed and the technical regulations of the Customs Union were developed. The purpose of such an organization was the creation of a single customs territory, which consists of several states. The rules of the Customs Union abolished duties on products sold. At the same time, this step made it possible to protect our own markets from excess imports and smoothed out all the irregularities in the trade and economic sphere. Uniform requirements of the Customs Union and a single customs tariff for all have been created within the participating countries. The same prescription regulated trade relations with other countries that were not members of the Customs Union. It was necessary.

Story

The same agreement of 2007 approved not only the technical regulations of the Customs Union, but also the Commission - its single regulatory body. In 2012, the operation of the regulation was completed, and it was replaced by an organization even more powerful, which had an order of magnitude more powers, and its staff was also significantly increased. This is the EEC - the Eurasian Economic Commission. The Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation constituted the entity on the basis of the Eurasian Economic Community. A unified structure of technical regulation was simply necessary. It was the Commission that made single register Customs Union approved its rules. It also has the prerogative of developing technical regulations.

The unified register concerns the bodies of certification of the Customs Union and its testing laboratories. This is a list of entities that issue certificates that guarantee the safety of this product. There is no need to confirm such a document anywhere on the territory of the CU countries. The CU Commission is the coordinator of all actions and all efforts of the participating countries on technical regulation, under whose control is all the activities of the Customs Union. National technical regulations ceased to be valid from the moment the Commission was created and the unified CU regulations were developed by it. Members of the Customs Union agreed that a single customs territory, where customs duties are not applied and there are no economic restrictions, may have exceptions - these are special protective, anti-dumping and countervailing measures.

Structure

Uniform regulatory measures are applied throughout the territory of the member states: the customs tariff within the CU and the rules for trade with other countries. Compliance with the rules is monitored by the Interstate Council, which is the supreme body of the CU and which includes the heads of government and heads of state of all CU countries. In 2007, these were the President of the Russian Federation D. Medvedev and the head of the Government of the Russian Federation V. Putin, the President of the Republic of Belarus A. Lukashenko and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus S. Sidorsky, the President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev and the Prime Minister K. Massimov. Since 2008, the Interstate Council of the EurAsEC (VOTS) has become the supreme body of the CU at the level of only the heads of state of the participating countries.

The only regulatory body, the CU Commission, ensured the conditions for the work and development of the CU, whose decisions are binding and do not require any confirmation at the national level. The states of the Customs Union divided their influence on the solution of all issues raised in this way: Russia has fifty-seven votes in the Commission, and Kazakhstan and Belarus - twenty-one votes each. All decisions are made if two-thirds of the votes are collected. In 2009, S. Glazyev was approved as the Executive Secretary of the Commission of the Customs Union. If disputes arise between the participating countries, they are resolved by special court EurAsEC, where it is possible to achieve changes in the actions of the CU bodies and state power associations.

Activities of the Customs Union

In 2009, the Commission, the supreme body of the Customs Union, together with the governments of the parties, carried out a set of measures to complete the formation of a contractual and legal framework TS. This included the Common Customs Tariff, the Customs Code, and the Statute of the Customs Court. In November 2009, a decision was made regarding a single customs tariff among the countries included in the Customs Union. Customs duties in trade between these countries have been adjusted since CCT - the Common Customs Tariff - came into force. In 2010, a summit was held where a statement was signed on the effectiveness of the Customs Code, which began to work in July 2010. Whole line provisions of the Unified Customs Code have no legal analogy in the laws of the CU member states.

For example, there is no concept of a Common Customs Territory, no conditions are stipulated regarding customs transit. Also, the CU Code abolished customs clearance and customs border control of all goods that originate from the territories of the CU member states, in addition, this also applies to goods of other countries that are in free circulation on the territory of the CU. The Code provides for the requirements of the Customs Union - reciprocity in the recognition of measures to ensure the payment of payments in all territories of the Customs Union. The institution of an economic operator was introduced - a person who has the right to use various simplifications that can be implemented in customs procedures.

Trade

In September 2010, the Customs Union introduced a regime on its territories that credits and distributes customs duties. Trilateral agreements agreed that imports are credited to a certain single account, in order to then be proportionally distributed between the budgets of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. For example, the Russian budget receives 87.97% of the total volume of import duties, the Belarusian budget - 4.7%, and the Kazakh budget - 7.33%. In 2011, customs authorities ceased control at all internal borders of the Customs Union.

The CU action plan was approved by the three participating states, and, according to the plan, the Russian customs authorities stopped any operations regarding vehicles and goods that follow our territory. Previously, control was carried out at all checkpoints on the state border of the Russian Federation. And the Russian-Belarusian border at the PPU (point of acceptance of notifications) stopped all transit control operations from third countries.

The control

The Security Regulations of the Customs Union of 2010 provided for the introduction of a transitional period on the border between Russia and Kazakhstan, when border checkpoints will still function, exercising control - both border and migration, and goods and vehicles that follow on the territory of the CU are still carried out by joint customs services of the participating countries. Special Services three countries must exchange all information regarding each consignment that is issued on their territory. In 2010, the authorities were already counting on the creation of a single economic space in all territories, since this is the surest step towards creating a common market.

The customs union is gradually replenished, and all member countries continue to apply, in addition to common customs tariffs, many other measures, including the regulation of trade with third countries. The states that joined the Customs Union: Kazakhstan and Russia - from July 1, 2010, the Republic of Belarus - in five days, Armenia - January 2, 2015, Kyrgyzstan - August 12, 2015. There were also candidates - Syria would have already joined the CU if the war that had not unleashed on its territory had not been unleashed on its territory (however, perhaps this intention was one of the reasons for its unleashing), and in January 2015 Tunisia announced its intention to join the CU.

Some general information

The export of goods was accompanied by a zero VAT rate or exemption from excise duty (reimbursement of the amount already paid), if the fact of export was documented. Imports of goods to Russia from two other CU member countries were accompanied by VAT and excises. If services were provided or work was carried out on the territory of Russia, then the tax base, rates, tax benefits and the procedure for collection were determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

After 2015, international obligations within the framework of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space imposed the following import customs duties: the budget of the Russian Federation receives 85.33%, the budget of Belarus - 4.55%, Kazakhstan - 7.11%, Armenia - 1.11% and Kyrgyzstan - 1.9%. Labor migrants - citizens of the CU member states - no longer have to buy a patent to get a job in the Russian Federation, since they have the same right to work as Russian citizens.

Meaning

Back in 2011, being the executive secretary of the CU Commission, Sergey Glazyev cited the undeniable benefits of creating the Customs Union - both in economic and geopolitical aspects. After degradation and decay Soviet Union, after decades of economic impoverishment and all sorts of hardships, the former Soviet republics began to integrate, and this is a geopolitical achievement of tremendous importance, the only one capable of providing concrete benefits to the economy of each state.

In 2012, an integration study was conducted by the Eurasian Development Bank. The sociological survey was conducted in ten CIS countries and additionally in Georgia, where up to two thousand respondents took part in each of the countries. There was only one question: the attitude towards the creation of the Customs Union, which exempted trade within three countries (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) from duties. Kazakhs welcomed the Customs Union in 80% of cases, Tajiks - 76%, in Russia 72% of respondents reacted positively, in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - 67%, in Moldova - 65%, in Armenia - 61%, in Belarus - 60%, Azerbaijan - 38%, and in Georgia - 30%.

Problems

Criticism of the TC has always existed. Most often, it was reduced to the topic of insufficient elaboration of the conditions for certification of goods and trade, it was also said that the Russian Federation imposed WTO conditions on the countries participating in this organization, although they did not join this organization. Some experts lamented about the unfair distribution of income among the participants. However, none of them could prove with their research that the Customs Union is not a very profitable project for both participants and potential members. On the contrary, a huge number of meticulously conducted studies consistently and on all counts prove that the EAEU is unequivocally beneficial to all its members, both for economic and ideological reasons.

Some experts note that the ideological component outweighs the economic one, since this union is an artificial formation, and therefore cannot be viable and exists so far only because it is ideologically beneficial for Russia, and it sponsors the participants. However, accusations of unfair division of income and the topic of sponsorship coexist very badly. It's either this or that. Judging by economic calculations, membership in the EAEU is beneficial for Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.

Today

Today, the Eurasian Economic Union is no less active than in any of the past moments of the existence of the CU. By decisions of the Commission, more and more new programs for the development of relations between the participating countries are discussed. For example, an advisory committee dealing with oil and gas has been created and is working, which forms a common gas market within the borders of the EAEU. And this is perhaps the most important priority of integration cooperation, which included a whole range of various activities - technological, organizational, legal (more than thirty events in total). In 2016, the heads of state of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia already approved the concept of work to form a common gas market. It remains to work out an international agreement with uniform rules for access to gas transport systems located on the territories of these states.

Common market develops road transport services, the competitiveness of international transport is increasing, and customs regulation and insurance have been significantly improved. Despite the fact that between the participating countries, foreign economic relations are provided by all existing species transport, the share of automobiles in it is more than 82 percent of the total volume of cargo transportation, and passenger - 94 percent. And these percentages are still growing. A common market for air transport services is also being formed, and this topic was discussed in detail by the advisory committee in Minsk at the end of April 2017. A draft of the so-called road map is being prepared, which is the implementation of the main directions of transport policy.

Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as the EAEU)- an international organization for regional economic integration with international legal personality and established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. The EAEU ensures the freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and work force, as well as the implementation of a coordinated, consistent and unified policy in the sectors of the economy.

The goals of the creation of the EAEU are:

• comprehensive modernization, cooperation and increasing the competitiveness of national economies;
• creation of conditions for the stable development of the economies of the member states in the interests of raising the living standards of their population.

Within the EAEU:

In relation to third countries of the EAEU, uniform measures of non-tariff regulation are applied, such as:

• prohibition of import and (or) export of goods;
• quantitative restrictions on the import and (or) export of goods;
• exclusive right to export and (or) import goods;
• automatic licensing (supervision) of export and (or) import of goods;
• licensing procedure for import and (or) export of goods.

Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union

The history of the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union

The official start date for the formation of the Customs Union can be considered 1995, when the Agreement on the Establishment of the Union was concluded between the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus. The purpose of this Agreement was to establish economic interaction between the parties, to ensure free trade and fair competition.

On February 26, 1999, the Treaty on the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space was signed. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and since 2006 - Uzbekistan became parties to the Treaty. Until the early 2000s, the participating countries were actively developing cooperation in various fields of activity (including socio-cultural, scientific).

In 2000, a decision was made to establish the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC). The Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan became members of the community.

In 2003, the Agreement on the Formation of the Common Economic Space (CES) was signed. Work began on the preparation of the legal framework for the CES, which later became the basis for the functioning of the Union. Most important events In the process of forming the Customs Union, there were two informal summits of the heads of the EurAsEC states.

At an informal summit on August 16, 2006, the heads of the EurAsEC states decided to form a Customs Union within the EurAsEC, in accordance with which Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia were instructed to prepare a legal framework. A year later, on October 6, 2007, at the EurAsEC summit, a package of documents was approved and signed that laid the foundation for the creation of the legal framework of the Customs Union (treaties on the creation of the Common Customs Territory and the formation of the Customs Union, on the Commission of the Customs Union, protocols on amending the Treaty on the Establishment EurAsEC, on the procedure for the entry into force of international treaties aimed at forming the legal framework of the customs union, withdrawal from them and joining them). In addition, the Action Plan for the formation of a customs union within the framework of the EurAsEC was approved.

Officially, on January 1, 2010, the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation began to function. The united states began to apply in foreign trade with third countries, a single customs tariff and common measures of non-tariff regulation, as well as streamlined tariff benefits and preferences for goods from third countries, the Customs Code of the Customs Union came into force. Gradually, on the internal borders of the member states of the Customs Union, they began to cancel customs clearance and customs control, points for receiving notifications were liquidated.

In 2012, international treaties came into force that form the legal basis of the Common Economic Space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, creating the basis for the free movement of not only goods, but also services, capital and labor.

With the signing of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union on May 29, 2014, the member countries of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space laid the foundation for a new, closer interaction. On October 10, 2014, the Republic of Armenia acceded to the Treaty on the EAEU. On December 23, 2014, the Agreement on Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the EAEU was signed.

The structure of the unified customs legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union

In connection with the formation of the regulatory legal framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, the customs legislation of the member states is changing. First of all, in addition to the current national legislation, two more levels of regulation have appeared: international agreements of the member states of the Customs Union and Decisions of the Customs Union Commission (currently the Eurasian Economic Commission). On the this moment EAEU customs legislation is a four-level system:

Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union

Switching to more high level integration required major changes in the regulatory framework of the Union. Work on the creation of a new Customs Code has been going on for several years, the process required numerous approvals of amendments from the Member States of the Union. On December 26, 2016, the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union was adopted, which replaced the Customs Code of the Customs Union adopted in 2009. The new EAEU TC entered into force on January 1, 2018. The document combines many international treaties and agreements of the Customs Union (for example, the Agreement on determining the customs value of goods transported across the customs border of the Customs Union), which will become invalid in whole or in part.

The Customs Code of the EAEU contains a number of new provisions concerning not only the structure of the Code itself (the new Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union contains 4 annexes, which were not in the Customs Code of the Customs Union), but also the rules of customs regulation in the Union. Thus, in the draft Customs Code of the EAEU, the conceptual apparatus has been updated, the “single window” principle has been introduced, the priority of electronic declaration has been declared, some changes have been made to customs procedures, the institution of an authorized economic operator has been reformed, etc.

Governing bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union

The governing bodies of the EAEU are:

• Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (supreme governing body)
• Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
• Eurasian Economic Commission (working permanent body)
• Court of the Eurasian Economic Union

Areas of activity of the Eurasian Economic Commission.