MINSK, March 3. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko approved a draft agreement between Belarus and Russia on harmonization of customs legislation and cooperation in the customs sphere as a basis for holding negotiations.

"The State Customs Committee of Belarus is authorized to negotiate this draft document and sign it if an agreement is reached within the approved draft," the presidential press service said on Thursday.

The report notes that the draft agreement sets the areas of cooperation between the customs authorities of the two countries (information interaction, joint customs control, profiling of persons performing customs operations), the creation of an Interstate Center within the Customs Committee of the Union State to coordinate risk management, as well as to implement analytical functions and to monitor customs operations.

The preparation of an international treaty on customs interaction is provided for by the guidelines for implementation of provisions of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State for 2021-2023, approved by a decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on November 4, 2021.