Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed laws on the ratification of a number of documents on the Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh Customs Union code, the Belarusian national Internet website dealing with legal issues said. The Customs Code, making the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan fully operational, came into force on July 6. The Customs Union formally came into existence on January 1, 2010, but was unable to start working fully until the Customs Code came into effect. The Russian and Kazakh presidents approved the Customs Code in June. Belarus dragged its feet on the ratification, however Lukashenko announced on Saturday that the country had also ratified the document.
Lukashenko signed into law the ratification of Customs Union code, as well as the ratification of the protocol introducing amendments to the code. The Belarusian president signed a law on the ratification of an agreement on veterinary and sanitary measures, quarantine of plants, and an agreement on mutual recognition of accreditation of certification bodies and testing laboratories that work on the assessment (validation) of compliance. The three states are to continue with economic integration and are set to remove all customs borders between Russia and Kazakhstan and Russia and Belarus starting July 1, 2011. From January 1, 2012, the three states are expected to introduce a single economic space. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Monday already voiced their interest in joining the union.
