Belarus’ Customs in negotiations with EC about information exchange

SCC Chairman Alexander Shpilevsky said at the meeting, Belarus expects to find areas of common interest for resolving the problem of information exchange between Belarus and the European Union. “It is a landmark meeting for us, which we have been trying to make happen for three years,” he said.

The head of the Customs remarked, establishment of information flow is a key thing for Belarus. The implementation of the project will decrease border crossing time and improve quality of service of the transit traffic from the west to the east and vice versa. He said that sometimes the clearance of one vehicle travelling from the European Union to Russia can take two and more hours. “If we reach an agreement, the clearance time can be reduced by up to eight times down to no more than 7-10 minutes,” added Alexander Shpilevsky.

According to the official, there are two things of vital importance for customs relations between the two countries. First, customs services of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia support Belarus in its initiative to establish the information flow. In particular, Lithuania is ready to participate in a pilot project for exchange of preliminary information about transported goods and transport vehicles. Second, a mission of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) visited Belarus in 2008. The WTO mission evaluated the level of information technologies and the compatibility of the technologies with European Union services as well as the possibility of information sharing. The WTO experts said that information technologies of the Belarusian Customs meet EU requirements, this is why Belarus is ready for information sharing at any time.

In turn, Antonis Kastrissianakis, Director of the International Affairs and Tariff Matters Directorate of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union of the European Commission, said that the visit to Belarus is supposed to assess potential opportunities for cooperation between the republic and the European Union in customs affairs. Two things should be distinguished, namely what the mutual interest is and what can be done to secure it. The European Commission representative remarked that the meeting was the second round of negotiations with Belarus’ Customs. The first one took place in Brussels on June 10, 2008. At the meeting an agreement to hold regular technical meetings was reached.

“We hope that there will be progress but don’t want extraordinary expectations. We will continue cooperation in a wider political context,” he said. Antonis Kastrissianakis added that the European Commission believes the establishment of preliminary information sharing is very important. It should be viewed, however, as part of the larger picture of bilateral relations and the reforms Belarus carries out to reform customs bodies.

Asked when the matter will be possibly resolved, the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus remarked that it will depend on results of the negotiations. In order to launch preliminary information sharing, it is necessary to develop software, make it compatible and straighten out financing. “There is understanding that the matter will be resolved. We expect concrete decisions from the European Commission,” concluded Alexander Shpilevsky.

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