27 may 2010

First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov chairs the latest meeting of the sub-commission for customs, tariff and non-tariff regulations and foreign trade protection measures of the Government Commission for Economic Development and Integration

Participants:

In order to provide support to the Russian automotive industry, the sub-commission decided to continue duty-free importation for certain kinds of cold-rolled metals used in the industrial assembly of motor vehicles. The decision was largely based on the recent price increase for similar groups of products of Russian metallurgical companies.

The meeting participants supported the proposal to drop import customs duties to zero for specialized port equipment, including rail-mounted gantry cranes, for nine months as part of the efforts to modernise Russia's port infrastructure. This decision was also based on the absence of Russian analogues for these types of products. The importation of these products will be monitored under the new regime to evaluate the measure's efficiency.

The sub-commission voted to continue evaluating the issue of amending the list of preferential goods, which would remove meat and meat products from the list.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the sub-commission agreed upon Russia's preliminary position on the creation of identical conditions for Customs Union countries regarding the removal of white sugar from free trade.