RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/RUS/16/Rev.3
24November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5149)
Original: English Working Party ontheAccession
oftheRussian Federation
ACCESSION OFTHE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Information Regarding theDevelopment of
Foreign Trade Legislation oftheRussian Federation
ThePermanent Mission oftheRussian Federation hassubmitted thefollowing information
regarding thedevelopment offoreign tradelegislation oftheRussian Federation since thelastmeeting
oftheWorking Party heldon22-23 July1997.
___________________
Development ofForeign Trade Legislation intheRussian Federation
Inaccordance withtheWTO practice withrespect toacceding countries, theRussian delegation
informs theWorking Party onaregular basis ofthedevelopment oftheRussian Federation economy
andofanychanges intheforeign trade regulations. Seethedocuments L/7410, WT/ACC/RUS/2,
WT/ACC/RUS/9, WT/ACC/RUS/16/, WT/ACC/RUS/17, etc.
Given below isabriefreview ofthekeyforeign trade lawsandregulations adopted inthe
Russian Federation between 15Juneand15November 1997. Allthedocuments mentioned herein have
beenpresented totheWTO Secretariat inEnglish andincorporated intherevised listofRussian foreign
trade legislation prepared forthismeeting oftheWorking Party.*
Market Access
Theeffective dateofFederal LawNo.96-FZ was8July1997, which made certain amendments
toFederal LawNo.157-FZ "OnStateRegulation ofForeign Trade Activities" dated 13October 1995
which inturnhasbeenrepeatedly discussed attheWorking Party meetings. Theamendments involve
anadjustment ofsome terms anddefinitions usedinState regulation offoreign trade activities and
tobring them intostrict conformity withtherules ofinternational trade law.
Federal LawNo.100-FZ "OnStateRegulation ofAgricultural Production" dated 14July1997
isintended toplayanimportant roleinthedevelopment oftheRussian agricultural sector. Article 17
ofthatlawisentirely devoted toforeign trade matters and,forthefirsttime, introduces many rules
andprovisions oftheWTO Agreement onAgriculture tothenational legislation ofRussia.
Presidential Decree No.767,dated 23July1997, significantly liberalized foreign tradeingold,
silver andother precious metals. Theprovisions ofthatDecree werefurther developed inGovernment
Resolution No.772.These regulatory actsdeclared theabandonment oftheState monopoly inthis
*Tobesubmitted shortly.WT/ACC/RUS/16/Rev.3
Page2
field, sincetherighttoenterintoforeign tradetransactions inandexport gold, silver andother precious
metals without anyquantitative restrictions wasgranted toawiderange ofcommercial banks andcredit
institutions.
Moreover, byResolution No.773of30June1997, theRussian Government deleted precious
metals andproducts thereof fromthelistofcommodities tobepriced bytheState. Statecontrol over
theprices ofthese goods inRussia caused much concern among WTO Member countries atthesecond
andthirdmeetings oftheWorking Party.
Trade ingoldandsilver isnotaddressed under GATT Article XX.However, thefactthat
foreign trade liberalization inRussia hascovered evensuchaspecific andsensitive areaisstrong
evidence ofitscommitment tothecourse ofmarket reform.
On17July1997,theRussianGovernmentadoptedResolutionNo.890whichdefinedtherights,
responsibilities andproceedings oftheGovernmental Commission forProtective Measures inForeign
Trade andCustoms Tariff Policy theformation ofwhich wasreported bytheRussian delegation at
thesixth meeting oftheWorking Party.
Todate,theCommission hasalready heldsixmeetings withabout thirty issues discussed, laid
thefoundations forRussia 'stariffpolicies inagriculture, car-making andmechanical engineering and
prepared drafts offundamental regulatory actsinthefieldofanti-dumping andcountervailing measures,
etc.Perhaps themost important result ofitswork wastheadoption ofResolution No.1347 of
22October 1997. InthatResolution, theRussian Government hasdetermined inaformal andlegally
binding manner thatthekeyandmostimportant principles oftheRussian tariff policy areitsstability
andtransparency. Anychanges intheratesofcustoms tariffs, however small, nowmaybeadopted
bytheGovernment nomore frequently thanonasemiannual basis andbecome effective overan
additional 180days. Nosingle change inadutyratemayexceed 10percentforanadvalorem rate
(oranequivalent foraspecific orcombined rate). In1997, Russia haschanged therateswithrespect
toonlytwoofthecurrently existing 9,854 commodity items.
On28September 1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.1072 under which
aspecial Government Commission onWTO issues wascreated anditsrights andresponsibilities were
defined.
State-Trading Enterprises
On26September 1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.1224 establishing
theFederal Agency forFood Market Regulation andliquidating theFederal Food Corporation.
Themain objectives oftheAgency aretomonitor agricultural product markets, promote the
development ofcompetition inthisarea, arrange, whenever necessary, commodity purchases inthe
agricultural product market andactasStatecustomer informing thecurrent foodreserve oftheRussian
Government. Itshould bestressed thatgovernment procurement andcommodity interventions will
beperformed notbytheAgency butexclusively bybusiness entities selected through public tenders.
Therefore,intheopinionoftheRussiandelegation,theAgencydoesnotqualifyasaState-trading
enterprise under GATT 1994Article XVII. However, theRussian delegation willcontinue itscareful
investigation intothismatter.
Allregulatory actspreviously adopted withrespect totheFederal Food Corporation were
invalidated asfrom 26September 1997.WT/ACC/RUS/16/Rev.3
Page3
Russia isconsistently restructuring itsnatural monopolies sothattheyoperate inaccordance
withtheprinciples ofafreemarket economy. On14July1997, theRussian Government adopted
Resolution No.858whereby allnatural gasproducers other thanGazprom wereauthorized touseup
to15percentofthecapacity oftheexport gaspipelines owned bytheState-trading enterprise Gazprom.
GovernmentResolutionNo.1269,dated30September1997,createdanopennon-discriminatory
mechanism forsuchaccess, andaprocedure ensuring equal rights forallproducers.
Technical Barriers toTrade (TBT)
On21July1997, Federal LawNo.105-FZ tookeffect which amended Article 11oftheFederal
Law"OnStateBorder" introducing aborder fee.ThatArticle caused considerable concern onthepart
oftheWTO Member countries. After theenactment ofnewFederal LawNo.105-FZ, thisconcern
should bediminished, though much work remains tobedone inorder toimplement theprovisions
ofbothlegislative actsinareasonable manner. According totheexplanation issued bytheConstitutional
Court ofRussia asof10November 1997, boththerateoftheborder feeandtheclasses ofpersons
andgoods exempt therefrom should bedetermined bytheFederal Parliament rather thantheGovernment
oftheRussian Federation. Thus, theentire package ofthelegislative actsistobereviewed again by
theState Duma.
On17May1997, theRussian Government adopted itsResolution No.601which, inorder
toprotect theconsumer rights, introduced asfrom 1January 1998 amandatory hologram mark of
conformity forawiderange ofproducts (10commodity groups). Theprovisions ofthatResolution
havebeenwidely discussed bytheRussian business community andforeign partners, including atthe
sixth meeting oftheWorking Party, aswellasinthecourse ofbilateral consultations.
Taking intoaccount thecomments andproposals referred toabove, on19September 1997
theRussian Government adopted itsResolution No.1193 which made significant amendments tothe
provisions ofResolution No.601.First, itwillnowapply toasfewastworather thantencommodity
groups (alcohol products andaudiovisual equipment). Second, thehologram mark ofconformity will
beimplemented asfrom1January 1999rather than1998andthuswillprovide anadequate adaptation
period forbusiness entities concerned. Third, themanufacturers ofhologram marks willbeidentified
through apublic tender rather thannominated.
Some timeagonumerous questions werealsoraised byGovernment Resolution No.1575dated
27December1996whichprescribedthatinformationinRussianwastobeplacedonfoodstuffsimported
intoRussia. Asalready reported atthesixth meeting oftheWorking Party, Resolution No.869of
theRussian Government, dated 14July1997, considerably modified anumber oftheprovisions of
Resolution No.1575 which hadcaused particular concern onthepartofWTO Member countries.
Therequirements forthescope andstructure ofinformation tobefurnished were imposed equally
uponbothimported anddomestic goods, thelistoftherequirements themselves wasrevised andreduced
andthebodies responsible forcompliance withtherules oftheResolution were identified.
On15August1997,theRussianGovernmentadoptedResolutionNo.1037concerningmandatory
placement ofinformation inRussian onnon-food products imported intotheRussian Federation. It
wasprepared taking intoaccount, asmuch aspossible, theexperience ofimplementing thetwo
Resolutionsreferredtoabove(No.1575andNo.869)andbasedonfundamentalGATT/WTOprinciples:
granting ofnational treatment toforeign products andtransparency offoreign trade regulation. For
instance, thedecision of15August 1997 concerning labelling ofnon-food products inRussian will
takeeffect onlyayearlater, asfrom 1July1998, andtheRussian Ministry ofForeign Economic
Relations wasspecifically instructed tonotify keytrade partners ofsuchadecision forwhich, in
particular, theRussian delegation willusetheopportunities available inthisforum. Inaddition, itwasWT/ACC/RUS/16/Rev.3
Page4
expressly stipulated (Section 2ofResolution No.1037) thattherequirements soimposed should equally
apply toRussian products andtothesame extent.
On16June1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.720which approved two
listsofdurable products. Oneofthelistsincludes products which, upon theexpiration ofacertain
periodoftime,canendangerthelifeorhealthofconsumersordamagetheirpropertyortheenvironment.
Withrespect totheseproducts, themanufacturer mustspecify themaximum periods oftheirsafeservice.
Thesecond listincludes products which, upon theexpiration oftheirservice life,become unsuitable
fortheirintended purpose. Onthese products, themanufacturer isalsoobliged torecord theservice
life.
On13August 1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.1013 which approved
aconsolidated listofproducts andservices subject tomandatory certification involving theissue of
acertificate ofconformity. Thatdecision wasaimed atachieving fulltransparency oftechnical measures
offoreign trade regulation inRussia andshould remove many questions expressed byWTO Member
countries during thesixth meeting oftheWorking Party.
Asignificantroleintheimplementationoftechnicalmeasuresofforeigntraderegulationbelongs
totheStateInspectorateforProductQualityControlandConsumerRightsProtection(Gostorginspektsiya)
affiliated withtheRussian Ministry ofForeign Economic Relations. Gostorginspektsiya isthemain
review bodyensuring compliance withandimplementation ofregulatory actsrelated toproduct quality
andconsumer rights. On14July1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.866which
determined therights, responsibilities, functions andpowers ofGostorginspektsiya andofitsseveral
thousand representatives inallRussian regions.
Trade inIntellectual Property Products
On11September 1997, thePresident oftheRussian Federation signed Decree No.1008which
defined thekeyobjectives, rights andresponsibilities oftheRussian Patent Agency (Rospatent) asone
oftheprincipal authorities inthefieldofintellectual property protection. Theprovisions andrules
ofthatDecree werefurther developed inGovernment Resolution No.1203of19September 1997which
setupamechanism forRospatent 'soperations.
Investment Policy andTRIMS
Theeffective dateofFederal LawNo.112-FZ was21July1997 which contained thelistof
thefirstplotstowhich theFederal Law"OnProduction Sharing Agreements" applied. On8July1997,
theRussian President signed Decree No.694forming aspecial Government Commission forthe
implementationofthePSALawandaspecialdepartmentwithintheRussianMinistryofFuelandEnergy
tosolve theproblems associated withtherelationships among investors, thefederal authorities and
regions withrespect toproduction sharing agreements.
On2September 1997, theRussian Government adopted Resolution No.1132 defining the
rights andresponsibilities ofthesaidGovernment Commission aswellasthemechanism forits
operations.
On21July1997, Federal LawNo.123-FZ "OnStateProperty Privatization andFundamentals
ofMunicipal Property Privatization intheRussian Federation" tookeffect. Thelawisofacodifying
nature and,forthefirsttimeinthenational legislation, determines thegeneral privatization procedure
asanintegral system oflegally interrelated acts.WT/ACC/RUS/16/Rev.3
Page5
Inparticular, itdetermines newregulations fortheholding ofinvestment tenders. Inaccordance
withthem, theStatewillremain thelegalowner oftheshares offered forsaleuntilthesuccessful bidder
oftheinvestment tender hasimplemented itsinvestment programme infull.
On16September 1997, thePresident oftheRussian Federation signed Decree No.1034which
provides government protection fortheinterests andrights ofdirect andportfolio investors, including
foreign ones.
On4November 1997, theRussian President signed Decree No.1148 according towhich
non-resident investors mayacquire anyquantity offederally-owned stock inRussian oilcompanies
which maybeoffered forsale.
Government Procurement
On25August 1997theRussian Government adopted itsResolution No.1062which determined
theprocedure forawarding themost reliable andqualified suppliers thehonorific title"Supplier for
State Needs".
Theeffective dateoftheRussian Government Resolution No.1222 was26September 1997
which determined averylimited listofproducts which maybeacquired forStateneeds without atender.
These areitems ofmuseum orscientific value aswellasproducts tobeprocured tosupport the
mobilization readiness ofthecountry.
Services
On30September 1997, anewprocedure fortransfer offoreign currency toandfromRussia
tookeffect according towhich, inparticular, anyRussian individual maytransfer abroad uptoUS$2000
daily without opening acurrent foreign-currency account orobtaining anyadditional permits.
***
Itremains theconsistent policy oftheRussian Federation toliberalize foreign tradeactivities
andtobring itsnational legislation intoconformity withWTO regulations andrules.