It is too early to talk about the complete abolition of customs control on the territory of the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union, a senior Belarusian Customs official said on Thursday.
The Customs Union between Russian, Belarus and Kazakhstan became fully operational in early July, when the three countries ratified the Customs Code. The countries plan to scrap their customs borders on July 1, 2011.
However, Belarus' deputy customs control chief Andrei Planin said "three groups of goods: transport vehicles for personal use, products for which countries have specific anti-dumping measures, and products for which Kazakhstan applies special taxes, other than the duties of the Customs Union" were still subject to customs control.
"It is not possible yet to speak about the complete annulment of customs control in the Customs Union," he concluded.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been skeptical about the future of the Customs Union, saying so far he could see no benefit from it for his country and that it would eventually collapse because "Russia does not really need it."
Relations between Russia and Belarus have been strained over a host of issues lately, including energy and the South Caucasus.
MINSK, September 2 (RIA Novosti)
