SOCHI, August 18 (Itar-Tass) - Additional examinations of cargoes on the Russian-Ukrainian border are not an ordinary action, Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev said.
Customs administration can be toughened if Ukraine signs the Association Agreement with the European Union, Glazyev said.
Commenting on the temporary delay of Ukrainian cargoes on the Russian border, the presidential adviser said, “This should not be dramatised. The fact is that the Russian Customs Service conducted preventive measures related to preparations for changing the customs administration regime if Ukraine signs the Association Agreement with the EU.”
“This was an ordinary examination. It is early to draw any conclusions. Information is being analysed,” the adviser said, adding, “Now the situation has normalised.”
Under the Association Agreement, Ukraine obliges to let pass European goods practically without examination, i.e. without paying customs duties and without veterinary and phytosanitary supervision. “The Ukrainian market can have a big number of European, Turkish and other goods, which will come to Russia that is why we fear re-import, first of all,” he said, adding, “We found that the big amount of non-Ukrainian meat, cheeses and other goods pass through the Russian border. If this flow becomes systematic in trade relations with Ukraine, the Customs Service has to verify the rules of goods’ origin.”
“Till now the Russian Customs Service has not marked the high level of risk for Ukrainian goods because it doesn’t want to violate relations, which are being maintained now. But if Ukraine signs the Association Agreement and obliges to fulfil all norms of European regulation to let pass European goods without any control, this will lead to re-import and driving Ukrainian goods out of the market,” Glazyev said.
On August 14, the Russian Federal Customs Service toughened control over Ukrainian cargoes on the Russian border. The Federation of Employers of Ukraine reported that all Ukrainian exporters had been included in risk groups.
Earlier, Andrei Belyaninov, the head of the service, told journalists, “I think Russia’s Federal Customs Service has acted within its competences and has never violated any international obligations.” “If its actions have caused any problems to participants in foreign economic activity, I present apologies. We shall always by securing Russia’s economic interests.”
On August 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich to discuss bilateral cooperation, including the customs problems between the two countries.