The sphere of alcohol market

The need to develop the draft Agreement is caused by the lack of common principles and objectives of regulation, as well as some available barriers (their conditions) to the mutual trade of alcoholic products produced in the Union Member States, including:

- discriminatory and overestimated “security payment”;

- quantitative restrictions of the “special importers” institute in Belarus;

- lack of unified forms of accompanying documents;

- lack of a system of administrative cooperation, including information exchange between the regulators of the Parties.

The draft Agreement is aimed at removing barriers (their conditions) to the mutual trade of alcoholic products and at the formation of the legal framework for regulation of the alcohol market within the Union. In order to form a single market of alcohol products without discriminatory, quantitative and investment restrictions and exceptions in the mutual trade within the Union, the draft Agreement provides for the establishment of following:

- shared objectives of regulation, in particular the protection of economic interests of the Parties, life and health of the population, as well as rights of participants of the alcohol market;

- unified principles of regulation, including national treatment and most favoured nation treatment for alcohol products, alcohol market participants and their activities, inadmissibility of restrictive business practice, as well as transparency;

- a nominal set of regulating measures for alcohol market, including requirements for market participants and their activities, as well as ensuring proper monitoring and supervision of compliance with such requirements

In addition, the draft Agreement provides for the provisions to ensure administrative cooperation of alcohol market regulators.

Following the adoption of the draft Agreement by the Commission together with the competent authorities of the Parties a set of activities will be carried out on their proposals, including:

- approval by the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the list of measures aimed at the harmonization of the legislation of the Parties;

- approval by the Council of the Commission of the list and forms of supporting documents for movement of alcohol products on the territory of the Union;

- approval by the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the list of information to be exchanged between the authorized authorities of the Parties;

- development and conclusion of the Agreement on administrative cooperation.

In 2015, the draft Agreement was approved by national authorities.