Customs Union may retaliate against third country restrictions

MINSK. May 24. KAZINFORM The Customs Union member states have decided to start discussing the possibility of taking reciprocal actions if third countries restrict access to their domestic markets. The statement was made by Andrei Savinykh, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, on 24 May when asked by BelTA about the development of institutional foundations of the Customs Union.

According to Andrei Savinykh, the choice of reciprocal actions may vary from official statements to restrictive measures.

The Press Secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry explained that the global economy is living through consequences of the global financial crisis. With the economy globalized, competition on foreign markets is tough. In these conditions governments of several countries are more prone to introduce various administrative restrictions to limit the access of foreign commodities to their home markets. In his words, in some cases the restrictions are used as an instrument of pressure meant to provide various political and economic advantages. Escalation of such measures delivers considerable damage to national economies, slows down steady economic development of countries and regions. As a rule, such restrictions are introduced unilaterally and contradict principles of international cooperation, said Andrei Savinykh.

According to BelTA, the spokesman stressed that it forces one to think about adequate protection for the Customs Union member states. With this in mind the decision to start discussing the possibility of taking reciprocal actions had been made, said the Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Andrei Savinykh said that Belarus believes that international practices allow such reciprocal actions. The procedure to take such actions should include careful analysis of the situation, analysis of consequences and choice of a concrete reciprocal measure that suits the situation.

"We are convinced that the unity of interests and coordinated views of the Customs Union member states will contribute to the enhancement of respect for our union. The Customs Union members will confirm predictability and transparency of their relations with third countries, positively influencing the latter's interest in the expansion of trade and investment cooperation with us," said Andrei Savinykh.

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