Official documents

MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) – A new law on customs regulation in Belarus is supposed to come into force on 1 January 2014. The information was released by Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus (SCC) Alexander Shpilevsky in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly on 17 May where the bill was given the first reading, BelTA has learned.

The timeframe for the law to come into force has not been specified. “But we believe and all the interested parties have agreed that the law should come into force on 1 January 2014,” said the official. He underlined that the law is unrelated to the adoption of the protocol on amending and adding to the Customs Code of the Customs Union, which is being prepared now. “The bill on customs regulation relies only on the aspects of the customs service, which are placed within the competence of national legislations of the Customs Union member states by the Customs Code of the Customs Union. These matters are totally unrelated to the Customs Code of the Customs Union,” said Alexander Shpilevsky.

The head of Belarus’ Customs also explained that there are plans to introduce 211 amendments to the Customs Code of the Customs Union. “We are participants of the process and no amendments affect our law,” he specified.

The bill comprises 8 sections, 48 chapters, and 269 articles that specify the basic provisions of customs regulation in Belarus, determine the system of customs bodies, their main functions and rights, the legal status of officers of customs bodies, and guarantees of their proper execution of duty. The law will allow considerably reducing the number of documents required for registering customs declarations. More transparent and favorable conditions for foreign trade participants will be created during the customs declaration and release of commodities.