MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Belarus signed the new Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union on April 11, Dmitry Nekrasov, head of the Department of Customs Legislation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, told reporters.

"Belarus signed the EAEU Customs Code yesterday. The Commission has already received it and it will be published on our website soon. However, it does not mean that it has already come into force, since it is an international treaty so it should be ratified by all parties," Nekrasov said on the sidelines of a conference on key foreign trade issues.

Leaders of the EAEU states (Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan) signed the Customs Code on December 26, 2016 at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was not present at that meeting.

On February 3, Lukashenko told reporters he did not sign the Customs Code, because many agreements in this area did not work. He also instructed Belarusian specialists to withdraw from the line up of the Customs agencies of the Eurasian Economic Community.

According to Lukashenko, Belarus' trade turnover within the EAEU fell by almost 40% in 2015and by 18% in 2016.