On October 15, the Prime Ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, which now form the Customs Union (CU), met in Moscow to discuss the progress achieved in moving further towards increased economic integration and trade cooperation under common rules and procedures. The heads of three governments reiterated their countries' preparedness to establish a single economic area from January 1, 2012. They also expressed their full satisfaction with the pace of legislative and normative developments aimed at bringing closer relevant legal instruments in all three territories.
Speaking before journalists, visiting Kazakhstani officials unveiled the idea of a new executive body in charge of protecting trade competition, which will become operational in 2011. Its major purpose is to signal all cases of unfair competition and to prevent the formation of cartels capable of disrupting normal trade relations between countries and negatively impacting consumers.
Though it is not yet clear which Member State will finally host the new institution, the Common Rules and Principles of Competition were agreed upon at a side meeting in Moscow at the level of experts. Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service had proposed the original framework mostly based on Russian law, which testifies in favor of Russia's sizable influence in matters of legal drafting and institution-building. The signing of these Rules is awaited not later than January 2011. All three Member States will then have a period of 18 months to harmonize their domestic anti-trust laws and regulations on protecting competition with the provisions of the trilateral agreement.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin specifically noted that from January 1, 2013, an export/import tariff for railroad transportation would be organized on a novel basis, where either party to the CU framework shall be obliged to comply with both internal and external tariffs intended to replace the currently used transit tariff. Later in the day, Putin held talks with his Kazakhstani counterpart Karim Massimov and referred to the positive status of Russia-Kazakhstan cooperation in the areas of space and nuclear technologies. In reply to Putin's comments, the head of Kazakhstan's government emphatically stressed that there had never been a single issue between Russia and Kazakhstan that could not be solved on the basis of mutual interest and to the benefit of both sides. In turn, Putin promised to enhance industrial cooperation activities in energy and heavy engineering.
Earlier during the week, Natalia Slyusar, the head of the legal department in the Secretariat of the CU Committee, a trilateral executive body in charge of implementation and oversight, spoke to the press about the prospects for enlargement. According to her, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are ready to accept new members, but these should necessarily belong to or be formally associated with the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc). Thus, the list of possible candidates is limited to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Ukraine. In July 2010, Syria’s president Bashir al-Assad stated his country's interest in establishing a free trade zone with the CU when meeting Belorussian Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky, leaving an impression that Syria might be considering future membership in this organization.
Despite these and many other estimates, it remains quite unlikely that any of the above countries will be well-placed to join the CU. Both Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan are full-fledged members of the World Trade Organization, whereas Tajikistan's economy has very little to offer its CIS partners and will have to overcome substantial structural deficiencies to implement the CU legislation. Anticipating any speculations over the seriousness of Armenia's intentions with regard to membership in the CU, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said on October 20 that it would make no sense for his country to seek any affiliation with the CU in the absence of a common border.
At the same time, it is rather unclear how the CU’s and the WTO's legal frameworks might be reconciled if all three countries of the CU, or at least the two of them that are now seeking membership in the WTO, were permitted to join. This uncertainty was additionally underscored by Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House National Economic Council. He said on October 20 on a visit to Moscow that Russia might be joining the WTO within 12 months.
The outcomes of economic integration in the framework of the CU were summed up one day later by the Executive Secretary of the CU Committee Sergey Glaziev. He said that 50 legal instruments had already been adopted and another 20 would be agreed upon by the end of this year. Therefore, all but 90 percent of the work has been accomplished so far. The Single Economic Area is expected to boost the national GDPs of the member states by 5 percent within 5 years and from 15 to 17 percent within 10 years.