RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/RUS/21
21November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5140)
Original: English Working Party ontheAccession
oftheRussian Federation
ACCESSION OFTHE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Information ontheTreatment Provided Under Preferential Arrangements
ThePermanent Mission oftheRussian Federation hassubmitted thefollowing information
concerning thetreatment provided under preferential arrangements, withtherequest thatitbecirculated
tomembers oftheWorking Party.
_______________
1. FreeTrade Agreements withCISCountries
Inaccordance withRussia 'sbilateral agreements onfreetrade withother CIScountries, the
importationofanygoods(includingagriculturalproducts)originatingfromCIScountriesintothecustoms
territory oftheRussian Federation isnotsubject toduties. Suchtariff preferences aregranted onthe
basisofacertificate oforigin (described inAnswers 186-189 ofWT/ACC/RUS/2 andAnswer 53of
WT/ACC/RUS/9/Add.1), provided thattheexporter isaresident ofaCIScountry.
Theregimeoffreetrade(withexemptions)betweentheRussianFederationandthefiveRepublics
ofAzerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova andUkraine isgoverned bythefollowing bilateral
agreements:
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofAzerbaijan, dated 30September 1992;
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofArmenia, dated 30September 1992;
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofGeorgia, dated 3February 1994;
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofMoldova, dated 9February 1993;
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
ofUkraine, dated 24June1993; and
- Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment ofUkraine
onImplementation oftheFreeTrade Regime, dated 8February 1995.
Theregime offreetrade (with exemptions) isalsoapplicable totrade relations between the
Russian Federation andthethree Republics ofUzbekistan, Turkmenistan andTadjikistan. However,WT/ACC/RUS/21
Page2
exemptions provided byArticle 1oftheFreeTrade Agreements between theRussian Federation and
these three countries apply to:
- goods subject totheprovisions oftheRussian legislation onexport tariffs andonlicensing
andquotas imposed ontheexported goods (services) effective onthedateofthecustoms
clearance ofsuchgoods exported fromtheRussian Federation (Note, these export tariffs have
subsequently beenabolished.);
- goods subject totheprovisions ofthelegislation oftheRepublics ofUzbekistan, Turkmenistan
orTadjikistan onexport tariffs andonlicensing andquotas imposed ontheexported goods
(services) effective onthedateofthecustoms clearance ofsuchgoods exported from these
countries.
Thisregime offreetrade (with exemptions) between theRussian Federation andthethree
Republics ofUzbekistan, Turkmenistan andTadjikistan isgoverned bythefollowing documents:
- Trade Relations Agreement Between theRussian Federation andtheRepublic ofUzbekistan,
dated 13November 1993;
- Protocol ofExemptions fromFreeTrade Regime totheTrade Relations Agreement Between
theRussian Federation andtheRepublic ofUzbekistan, dated 13November 1993;
- Trade Relations Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andthe
Government ofTurkmenistan, dated 11November 1992; and,
- Agreement onTrade andEconomic Cooperation Between theGovernment ofthe
Russian Federation andtheGovernment oftheRepublic ofTadjikistan (Free Trade Agreement),
dated 10October 1992.
During theimportation intothecustoms territory oftheRussian Federation ofgoods originating
from other CIScountries, VAT iscurrently notcollected. During theimportation intothecustoms
territory oftheRussian Federation ofthose goods which originate fromother CIScountries andwhich
areexcisable intheRussian Federation, excise taxiscollected inregular amounts reduced bytheamount
ofexcise taxalready exacted inthecountry oforigin ofsuchgoods.
2. Customs Union
Anumber ofagreements weresigned between theRussian Federation andBelarus, Kazakstan
andtheKyrgyz Republic in1995-1996 toprovide forastep-by-step formation ofacustoms union.
Suchagreements wereentered intobyBelarus on6January 1995, byKazakstan on20January 1995,
andbytheKyrgyz Republic on29March 1996.
Theformation ofthiscustoms union isnowintheinitial stage. Inactual fact,thetrade with
thesecountriesiscurrentlycarriedoutundertheconditionsofafreetraderegime,withoutanylimitations
orrestrictions. Such regime issetoutinthefollowing agreements:
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofBelarus, dated 13November 1992;
- Protocol onIntroduction ofFreeTrade Regime Without Exemptions andRestrictions Between
theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment oftheRepublic ofBelarus,
dated 6January 1995;WT/ACC/RUS/21
Page3
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheRepublic ofKazakstan, dated 22October 1992;
- Protocol onIntroduction ofFreeTrade Regime Without Exemptions andRestrictions Between
theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment oftheRepublic ofKazakstan,
dated 20January 1995;
- FreeTrade Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment
oftheKyrgyz Republic, dated 8October 1992; and,
- Agreement ontheAccession oftheKyrgyz Republic totheCustoms Union Agreement, dated
29March 1996.
During 1995-1996 therewereconcluded anumber ofagreements among theRussian Federation,
theRepublic ofBelarus, Republic ofKazakstan andtheKyrgyz Republic which provide forthephased
creation bythese States ofthecustoms union:
- Agreement OnCustoms Union Between theRussian Federation andtheRepublic ofBelarus,
dated 6January 1995;
- Agreement OnCustoms Union Among theRussian Federation, theRepublic ofBelarus and
Republic ofKazakstan, dated 20January 1995;
- Treaty OnAccession oftheKyrgyz Republic totheAgreement onCustoms Union, dated
29March 1995;
- Protocol OnFinalization bytheKyrgyz Republic ofWorks onExecution ofPrimary
Arrangements, Provided bytheTerms fortheFormation ofCustoms Union, dated
22November 1995;
- Agreement Between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment ofthe
Republic ofKazakstan ontheUniform Procedure fortheRegulation ofExternal Economic
Activity, dated 20January 1995;
- Agreement between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment ofthe
Republic ofBelarus ontheUniform Procedure fortheRegulation ofExternal Economic Activity
upon theUnification (Combination) oftheMonetary Systems oftheRepublic ofBelarus and
theMonetary System oftheRussian Federation, dated 12April 1994;
- Agreement between theGovernment oftheRussian Federation andtheGovernment ofthe
Kyrgyz Republic ontheUniform Procedure fortheRegulation ofExternal Economic Activity,
dated 10January 1996;
3. Partnership andCooperation Agreement withtheEuropean Communities
Tobefullytransparent, theRussian delegation wishes toinform themembers oftheWorking
Party thatArticle 3ofthatsection ofthePartnership andCooperation Agreement related tothetrade
ofgoods, provides forapossible startin1998oftalksontheestablishment ofafreetradezonebetween
Russia andtheEuropean Communities.WT/ACC/RUS/21
Page4
4. General System ofPreferences
Aspartofthesystem ofpreferences (GSP), theRussian Federation grants developing and
least-developed countries tariff preferences during theimportation intothecustoms territory ofthe
Russian Federation ofgoods (including agricultural products) originating fromthese countries. Goods
originating fromleast-developed countries areexempted fromduties altogether, while goods originating
fromdeveloping countries aresubject toimport duties equal to75percentofthebaserateofcustoms
duties forcountries enjoying most-favoured-nation treatment. Theabove tariffpreferences aregranted
onthebasis ofacertificate oforigin described inAnswers 186-189 ofWT/ACC/RUS/2, Answer 53
ofWT/ACC/RUS/9/Add.1 andAnswer 101ofWT/ACC/RUS/9. Thelistofdeveloping and
least-developed countries towhich Russia grants tariffpreferences iscontained inRussian Government
Resolutions No.1057 of13September 1994 andNo.1301 of31December 1995. Bothresolutions
areavailable forconsultation intheWTO Secretariat (Accessions Division, Room 1126).
Russian Government Resolutions No. 1057 of13September 1994, No. 1301 of
31December 1995, No.887of26July1996, No.1560 of27December 1996 andNo.807of
3July1997, aswellastheFederal LawOnAdditions andAmendments totheFederal LawOnExcises
dated 10January 1997, listthose products towhich thegeneral system ofpreferences fordeveloping
andleast-developed countries doesnotapply. Seeattached Appendix.*
Incompiling alistofgoods subject totariff preferences upon importation tothe
Russian Federation, theRussian Government hasproceeded ontheassumption thatsuchpreferences
apply, asageneral rule,toagricultural produce grown indeveloping andleast-developed countries,
products ofthenational industries ofsuchcountries andtraditional handicrafts, aswellascertain articles
ofclothing, pieces ofapplied anddecorative art,andother goods ofsimilar nature.
TheRussian national system ofpreferences issubject toannual revisions pursuant toRussian
Government Resolution No.1057 of13September 1994 andasprovided forbytheRussian Federal
LawOnCustoms Tariff.
*Tobesubmitted shortly.