Union State Council of Ministers approves 28 sectoral programs to reinforce Belarus-Russia integration

MINSK, Sep 10 - PrimePress. The Council of Ministers of the Union State has approved the 2021-2023 guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State and 28 Union State programmes aimed to accomplish major aspects of strengthening Russia-Belarus integration. This is stated in a joint statement of Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin and Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko after the Council of Ministers of the Union State meeting in Minsk on 10 September 2021; the document is published on the website of the Russian government. The statement notes that the Union Programmes specify major avenues of the Union State’s construction. 1. Macroeconomic policy convergence Russia and Belarus have reached an agreement on synchronizing strategic management in terms of macroeconomic policy and official statistics. With Minsk and Moscow harmonizing their national legislation in this area, the parties would set up a framework for joint support of small and medium-sized enterprises, and streamline the handling of insolvency and bankruptcy cases, the statement said. 2. Monetary policy and macroprudential regulation harmonized An agreement has been reached that by December 2022 the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of Belarus will come to terms on the principles and mechanisms of monetary policy harmonisation. The implementation of the agreement will be aimed at achieving a comparable and sustainably low level of inflation and creating similar financial conditions for economic entities in both countries. 3. FX regulation and currency control harmonized The parties have agreed that they will harmonize the rules for opening of bank accounts by residents in non-resident banks, FX operations and requirements for repatriation of FX proceeds. 4. Information security requirements in financial sector harmonized The parties have agreed to harmonize approaches to ensuring information security, creating a mechanism of mutual recognition of information security audit results, applying cross-border integrity control and authentication during electronic information exchange. 5. Harmonization of regulations of credit and non-credit financial institutions as well as the financial market as a whole, with uniform deposit insurance principles The parties have agreed to harmonize regulation of the financial market, in particular leasing organisations and micro-financial institutions, as well as mutual admission of banking and insurance organisations to the financial markets of the Union State, the statement said. 6. Harmonisation of anti-money laundering and financial terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for the financial sector An agreement has been reached between the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of Belarus on harmonizing the AML/CFT legislation of the two countries for the financial sector and on implementing joint measures in this area. 7. Payment system integration in the area of national payment card systems, financial messaging and settlement systems, implementation of ISO 20022 international standard for financial messaging, rapid payments system, development of financial technologies, harmonised approaches to payment system supervision and monitoring The parties have agreed to improve the mechanisms for cross-border exchange of financial information between Russian and Belarusian credit institutions and legal entities and develop cooperation in the field of instant payments, financial messaging and settlements, supervision of payment services market participants, development of financial technologies. 8. Harmonisation of requirements in the field of protection of rights of consumers of financial services and investors and prevention of bad-faith practices in the financial market The parties have agreed to develop proposals in order to harmonize the Russian and Belarusian legislation with an eye to providing equal scope of financial services consumer rights protection for those who use the same financial services. 9. Integration of information systems of state supervision bodies on goods traceability The parties have agreed to synchronize approaches to the functioning of the traceability mechanism, the integration of information systems for automatic data exchange, which will ensure control of the circulation of goods subject to traceability. 10. Integration of information systems for goods labelling The parties have agreed to unify approaches to legal and technical regulation and technical support of mandatory marking of goods with identification means, to synchronize the work required for the mutual recognition of identification means in order to provide unhindered access to the market for marked goods. 11. Harmonisation of tax and customs legislation and customs cooperation As for taxation and customs regulations, the parties have agreed to conclude international treaties on general principles of indirect taxation and on deepening cooperation between customs bodies, to introduce an integrated system for administering indirect taxes of the Russian Federation and Belarus, to set up a joint advisory body - the Union State Committee on Taxation. The parties have also agreed to harmonize approaches to the maintenance of mutual trade statistics, categorisation systems for participants in foreign economic activities and the institution of authorised economic operators. 12. Integration of information systems of state control bodies with regard to veterinary and phytosanitary quarantine control The parties have agreed to integrate information systems in order to automate data exchange on issued acts of phytosanitary quarantine control (supervision). Traceability of controlled goods and regulated products will be provided that will increase efficiency of phytosanitary quarantine and veterinary control (supervision) and accelerate movement of goods and vehicles across the state border. The parties will ensure the traceability of all livestock and plant products. 13. Integration of information systems of transport control of state control bodies The parties have agreed on the development of software allowing the exchange of data on the results of transport control in the territory of the two countries, which will increase the transparency and security of road transport. 14. Unification of transport market regulation Equal tariff conditions in air transport will be implemented for airport and air navigation services, and restrictions on the frequency and unification of airworthiness regulation will be lifted. In the field of rail transport, unification of legislation, including tariff regulation, licensing, organisation of passenger and freight transportation, safety and labour requirements, is envisaged. In the sphere of water transport, it is envisaged that Russian- and Belarusian-flagged vessels will navigate the inland waterways of the parties in accordance with the unified rules. In the sphere of road transport an agreement will be concluded on carriage on a permit-free basis. In the field of road transport general norms of legislation will be prepared in terms of classification of roads, requirements for road activities, ensuring road safety, placement of road service facilities, implementation of control and supervisory activities. 15. Unified gas market The parties have agreed to coordinate activities related to setting prices for Russian gas for Belarus in 2022 and develop the principles of functioning and management of the Union State integrated gas market (by July 2022). By 1 December 2023 the parties plan to sign an addendum to the Union Program determining the main principles of operation and regulation of the joint gas market as well as the deadlines for their implementation proceeding from the movement towards converging conditions in the gas sector versus the current level. 16. Unified market for oil and petroleum products The parties have agreed to adopt an international treaty on the integration of the Russian and Belarusian markets of oil and petroleum products and the harmonization of national legislation. 17. Unified electric energy market The parties have agreed to sign an intergovernmental treaty on the formation of a unified electric power market and the rules of this market functioning providing for the harmonization of the laws of Russia and Belarus, and have also outlined the path for implementing the principles for deeper integration of the electric power markets of the two countries. 18. Nuclear power development The parties have agreed to ensure unification of the legislation in the field of nuclear power facilities operation, radiation safety regulation, emergency preparedness and response, nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management by the end of 2023. 19. Common agricultural policy The parties have agreed to converge legislation in the field of agriculture in order to increase mutual trade in agricultural products, remove administrative barriers, ensure food security and joint scientific and technical development of agriculture. 20. Common industrial policy The parties have agreed to stimulate the development of joint ventures, as well as implement a unified policy to support production and sales. They also plan to eliminate economic and technical barriers to industrial production in order to increase transparency of bilateral trade and increase trade turnover. 21. Unified rules of access to public procurement The parties agree to harmonize legislation in the field of equal access to public procurement, as well as in the regulation of public (municipal) procurement. An agreement has been reached to use bank guarantees issued by Belarusian banks in public procurement in Russia and to remove restrictions on access to public (municipal) procurement. 22. Uniform rules in the field of consumer protection The parties have agreed to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on uniform rules in the field of consumer protection in the Union State by 31 December 2022. 23. Common rules on competition The parties have agreed to approve common approaches to the formation and implementation of competition rules on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement that will define common rules on competition, including competences of the antimonopoly authority regarding the possibility to order unplanned inspections and examinations. 24. Unification of requirements for conduct of trade activities The parties have agreed to adopt normative legal acts to ensure unified requirements in the field of trade and catering regulation as well as to harmonize legislation in this area. 25. Common principles for operating a common communication and information market The parties have agreed to develop new and update existing intergovernmental, interdepartmental and other agreements in the field of communications and informatization, to unify legislation on postal communication, on construction of communication network infrastructure, as well as to abolish roaming in the territory of the Union State. They plan to harmonize the use of electronic documents and electronic signatures, as well as the provision of state services in electronic form. 26. Unified regulation of accounting and financial reporting The parties have agreed to create conditions for the circulation of comparable consolidated financial statements of economic entities, the formation of an information base for the expansion of foreign economic, investment and business relations, the access of economic entities to international capital markets, as well as access of interested persons to the financial statements of economic entities. 27. Unified legislation in the field of tourism activity The parties have agreed to harmonize strategies for tourism development, norms for tour guides and interpreters, create common information rules to standardise the quality of hotel services. Guarantees for tourists in the provision of tourism services, requirements for tourist activities in terms of financial responsibility of tour operators will be unified, and protection of tourist rights will be provided if the tour operator is unable to fulfill its obligations for the provision of tourist services. 28. Coordinated welfare and labour policy The parties have agreed to elaborate common approaches to harmonizing legislation in the field of labour relations and labour protection, employment, social insurance and pensions, support for families with children, social services and social support for certain categories of citizens. The statement also says that the Council of Ministers has approved a draft decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on the approval of the "Guidelines for implementing the provisions of the Treaty establishing the Union State in 2021-2023" and the Union State programs. According to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the Union Programmes are to be approved at the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on 4 November 2021. End

2021-09-11

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Union State Council of Ministers approves 28 sectoral programs to reinforce Belarus-Russia integration

MINSK, Sep 10 - PrimePress. The Council of Ministers of the Union State has approved the 2021-2023 guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State and 28 Union State programmes aimed to accomplish major aspects of strengthening Russia-Belarus integration. This is stated in a joint statement of Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin and Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko after the Council of Ministers of the Union State meeting in Minsk on 10 September 2021; the document is published on the website of the Russian government.

The statement notes that the Union Programmes specify major avenues of the Union State’s construction.

1. Macroeconomic policy convergence

Russia and Belarus have reached an agreement on synchronizing strategic management in terms of macroeconomic policy and official statistics.

With Minsk and Moscow harmonizing their national legislation in this area, the parties would set up a framework for joint support of small and medium-sized enterprises, and streamline the handling of insolvency and bankruptcy cases, the statement said.

2. Monetary policy and macroprudential regulation harmonized

An agreement has been reached that by December 2022 the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of Belarus will come to terms on the principles and mechanisms of monetary policy harmonisation.

The implementation of the agreement will be aimed at achieving a comparable and sustainably low level of inflation and creating similar financial conditions for economic entities in both countries.

3. FX regulation and currency control harmonized

The parties have agreed that they will harmonize the rules for opening of bank accounts by residents in non-resident banks, FX operations and requirements for repatriation of FX proceeds.

4. Information security requirements in financial sector harmonized

The parties have agreed to harmonize approaches to ensuring information security, creating a mechanism of mutual recognition of information security audit results, applying cross-border integrity control and authentication during electronic information exchange.

5. Harmonization of regulations of credit and non-credit financial institutions as well as the financial market as a whole, with uniform deposit insurance principles

The parties have agreed to harmonize regulation of the financial market, in particular leasing organisations and micro-financial institutions, as well as mutual admission of banking and insurance organisations to the financial markets of the Union State, the statement said.

6. Harmonisation of anti-money laundering and financial terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for the financial sector

An agreement has been reached between the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of Belarus on harmonizing the AML/CFT legislation of the two countries for the financial sector and on implementing joint measures in this area.

7. Payment system integration in the area of national payment card systems, financial messaging and settlement systems, implementation of ISO 20022 international standard for financial messaging, rapid payments system, development of financial technologies, harmonised approaches to payment system supervision and monitoring

The parties have agreed to improve the mechanisms for cross-border exchange of financial information between Russian and Belarusian credit institutions and legal entities and develop cooperation in the field of instant payments, financial messaging and settlements, supervision of payment services market participants, development of financial technologies.

8. Harmonisation of requirements in the field of protection of rights of consumers of financial services and investors and prevention of bad-faith practices in the financial market

The parties have agreed to develop proposals in order to harmonize the Russian and Belarusian legislation with an eye to providing equal scope of financial services consumer rights protection for those who use the same financial services.

9. Integration of information systems of state supervision bodies on goods traceability

The parties have agreed to synchronize approaches to the functioning of the traceability mechanism, the integration of information systems for automatic data exchange, which will ensure control of the circulation of goods subject to traceability.

10. Integration of information systems for goods labelling

The parties have agreed to unify approaches to legal and technical regulation and technical support of mandatory marking of goods with identification means, to synchronize the work required for the mutual recognition of identification means in order to provide unhindered access to the market for marked goods.

11. Harmonisation of tax and customs legislation and customs cooperation

As for taxation and customs regulations, the parties have agreed to conclude international treaties on general principles of indirect taxation and on deepening cooperation between customs bodies, to introduce an integrated system for administering indirect taxes of the Russian Federation and Belarus, to set up a joint advisory body - the Union State Committee on Taxation.

The parties have also agreed to harmonize approaches to the maintenance of mutual trade statistics, categorisation systems for participants in foreign economic activities and the institution of authorised economic operators.

12. Integration of information systems of state control bodies with regard to veterinary and phytosanitary quarantine control

The parties have agreed to integrate information systems in order to automate data exchange on issued acts of phytosanitary quarantine control (supervision). Traceability of controlled goods and regulated products will be provided that will increase efficiency of phytosanitary quarantine and veterinary control (supervision) and accelerate movement of goods and vehicles across the state border. The parties will ensure the traceability of all livestock and plant products.

13. Integration of information systems of transport control of state control bodies

The parties have agreed on the development of software allowing the exchange of data on the results of transport control in the territory of the two countries, which will increase the transparency and security of road transport.

14. Unification of transport market regulation

Equal tariff conditions in air transport will be implemented for airport and air navigation services, and restrictions on the frequency and unification of airworthiness regulation will be lifted.

In the field of rail transport, unification of legislation, including tariff regulation, licensing, organisation of passenger and freight transportation, safety and labour requirements, is envisaged.

In the sphere of water transport, it is envisaged that Russian- and Belarusian-flagged vessels will navigate the inland waterways of the parties in accordance with the unified rules.

In the sphere of road transport an agreement will be concluded on carriage on a permit-free basis.

In the field of road transport general norms of legislation will be prepared in terms of classification of roads, requirements for road activities, ensuring road safety, placement of road service facilities, implementation of control and supervisory activities.

15. Unified gas market

The parties have agreed to coordinate activities related to setting prices for Russian gas for Belarus in 2022 and develop the principles of functioning and management of the Union State integrated gas market (by July 2022).

By 1 December 2023 the parties plan to sign an addendum to the Union Program determining the main principles of operation and regulation of the joint gas market as well as the deadlines for their implementation proceeding from the movement towards converging conditions in the gas sector versus the current level.

16. Unified market for oil and petroleum products

The parties have agreed to adopt an international treaty on the integration of the Russian and Belarusian markets of oil and petroleum products and the harmonization of national legislation.

17. Unified electric energy market

The parties have agreed to sign an intergovernmental treaty on the formation of a unified electric power market and the rules of this market functioning providing for the harmonization of the laws of Russia and Belarus, and have also outlined the path for implementing the principles for deeper integration of the electric power markets of the two countries.

18. Nuclear power development

The parties have agreed to ensure unification of the legislation in the field of nuclear power facilities operation, radiation safety regulation, emergency preparedness and response, nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management by the end of 2023.

19. Common agricultural policy

The parties have agreed to converge legislation in the field of agriculture in order to increase mutual trade in agricultural products, remove administrative barriers, ensure food security and joint scientific and technical development of agriculture.

20. Common industrial policy

The parties have agreed to stimulate the development of joint ventures, as well as implement a unified policy to support production and sales.

They also plan to eliminate economic and technical barriers to industrial production in order to increase transparency of bilateral trade and increase trade turnover.

21. Unified rules of access to public procurement

The parties agree to harmonize legislation in the field of equal access to public procurement, as well as in the regulation of public (municipal) procurement. An agreement has been reached to use bank guarantees issued by Belarusian banks in public procurement in Russia and to remove restrictions on access to public (municipal) procurement.

22. Uniform rules in the field of consumer protection

The parties have agreed to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on uniform rules in the field of consumer protection in the Union State by 31 December 2022.

23. Common rules on competition

The parties have agreed to approve common approaches to the formation and implementation of competition rules on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement that will define common rules on competition, including competences of the antimonopoly authority regarding the possibility to order unplanned inspections and examinations.

24. Unification of requirements for conduct of trade activities

The parties have agreed to adopt normative legal acts to ensure unified requirements in the field of trade and catering regulation as well as to harmonize legislation in this area.

25. Common principles for operating a common communication and information market

The parties have agreed to develop new and update existing intergovernmental, interdepartmental and other agreements in the field of communications and informatization, to unify legislation on postal communication, on construction of communication network infrastructure, as well as to abolish roaming in the territory of the Union State.

They plan to harmonize the use of electronic documents and electronic signatures, as well as the provision of state services in electronic form.

26. Unified regulation of accounting and financial reporting

The parties have agreed to create conditions for the circulation of comparable consolidated financial statements of economic entities, the formation of an information base for the expansion of foreign economic, investment and business relations, the access of economic entities to international capital markets, as well as access of interested persons to the financial statements of economic entities.

27. Unified legislation in the field of tourism activity

The parties have agreed to harmonize strategies for tourism development, norms for tour guides and interpreters, create common information rules to standardise the quality of hotel services.

Guarantees for tourists in the provision of tourism services, requirements for tourist activities in terms of financial responsibility of tour operators will be unified, and protection of tourist rights will be provided if the tour operator is unable to fulfill its obligations for the provision of tourist services.

28. Coordinated welfare and labour policy

The parties have agreed to elaborate common approaches to harmonizing legislation in the field of labour relations and labour protection, employment, social insurance and pensions, support for families with children, social services and social support for certain categories of citizens.

The statement also says that the Council of Ministers has approved a draft decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on the approval of the "Guidelines for implementing the provisions of the Treaty establishing the Union State in 2021-2023" and the Union State programs.

According to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the Union Programmes are to be approved at the meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on 4 November 2021. End

2021-09-11

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