MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) – A seminar is in progress in Minsk to discuss the incorporation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement into Belarusian legislation, the press service of the State Customs Committee of Belarus told BelTA.
Participants of the seminar are expected to get familiar with the list of obligations the agreement specifies, their content, ways to implement the agreement as part of Belarusian legislation, and the protocol for interaction in response to compliance notices.
While international trade develops dynamically, it is crucial for the customs service to strike a balance between simplifying trade and customs procedures and keeping supply chains safe, said Dmitry Kovalenok, Head of the Central Office for Customs Control Organization of the State Customs Committee of Belarus. The Belarusian customs service is no exception in this regard.
Secretary of the WTO Trade Facilitation Committee Nora Neufeld, UNECE Trade Adviser Mario Apostolov, and Deputy Chairman of the UNECE Working Party on Customs Questions Alexander Fedorov explained the application of some provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
According to the press service of the State Customs Committee of Belarus, the seminar represents a unique opportunity to exchange opinions about key matters in trade facilitation and take effective steps to work out a scenario and useful algorithms to incorporate the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement into Belarusian laws. Further steps regarding the level of commitments the agreement specifies and Belarus is supposed to embrace in order to join the WTO will be determined as a result of the seminar.
Taking part in the two-day seminar are representatives of customs bodies of Belarus, the WTO Trade Facilitation Committee, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Belarusian ministries and government agencies, the business community, and scientific circles.