MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) – Minsk played host to a meeting of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) on 21 June, BelTA has learned.
"The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission convened for an extraordinary meeting today. First of all, we discussed the stability of the internal market of the Eurasian Economic Union, taking into account the food situation in the world. A number of states have imposed certain restrictions on sensitive positions to ensure the stability of domestic markets. Therefore, the Council decided to work out approaches to the temporary use of indicative balances that ensure food security on the domestic market of the EAEU," Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko told reporters.
According to him, the countries will apply a flexible approach to export outside the union. "This aspect was discussed in detail. The parties finalized this issue at the level of the appropriate ministries,” Igor Petrishenko said. “The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will come to a decision at a meeting today. There is a certain list of goods that includes about 10 commodity groups, mainly food, and such sensitive items as scrap metal, waste paper. We will invite the heads of government to sign a corresponding instruction to the EEC Council in order to regulate these aspects in a flexible manner."
According to Igor Petrishenko, the meeting highlighted issues related to some of the regulatory measures meant to make up for the lack of certain commodities in the market, and beet harvesters in particular. “We do not produce this equipment in the union. There are certain components we need to import in order to expand the competences of our enterprises,” he said.
The participants of the meeting also discussed issues related to sugar production. “We agreed that we will revisit this issue at the next meeting, closer to the harvest season, and consider in detail the proposal of our counterparts from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to increase duty-free import quotas. We must ensure the sustainability of the EAEU domestic sugar market, taking into account the areas under this crop and sugar beet processing volumes,” he said.
“We agreed to actively continue working on sensitive areas and issues that would ensure the sustainability of the Eurasian Economic Union market,” the deputy prime minister said.
Igor Petrishenko suggested holding the next meeting of the EEC Council in Vitebsk in mid-July and invited the representatives of the member states to attend the opening ceremony of the Slavianski Bazaar art festival in Vitebsk.
The EEC Council members are also expected to take part in an enlarged meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Minsk on 21 June. Final documents will be signed at the end of the meeting.
