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27 Jun 2025 Andrey Slepnev: "Labelling of goods in the EAEU has proved its efficiency" This was stated by Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, after considering the development of the system for labelling goods with identification means at the June 27 meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk. Since 2019, a total of about 274 billion commodity items have been labeled in the Eurasian Economic Union. The proven effects are market regularization, reduced volume of counterfeit products, an increased number of lawful companies, growing profitability of bona fide producers and increased budget receipts", said Andrey Slepnev. The effect of labelling is confirmed by the data of the EAEU countries. For example, in Armenia, the increase in the number of lawful producers and importers of goods amounted to 7%. In Kazakhstan, the turnover of counterfeit tobacco products decreased by $24.7 million. In the Russian Federation, the market regularization growth reached 22% for dairy products, 36% for light industry goods, 18% for footwear, 43% for perfumes. "The Member States' budgets have also benefited significantly from the introduction of labelling. The increase in tax and duty revenues is observed across all countries and directly depends on the number of categories of goods for which labelling is introduced in each country," said Andrey Slepnev. For example, in Russia, where the maximum number of categories of goods are labeled, the additional budget revenues from the sale of labeled products amounted to $15 billion, while in Kyrgyzstan to $68 million. In Belarus, where national labelling was previously in effect, which significantly regularized the market even before the introduction of the all-Union rules, the additional budget revenues reached $4.64 million. The next step will be further improvement of the labelling system to better combat illegal products.  "The first priority is to strengthen the role of national labelling systems for controlling the legality of origin and safety of goods," emphasized Andrey Slepnev. In addition, the all-Union work will continue on the technological improvement of the EAEU labelling system and on the legal safeguarding of the freedom of movement of labeled goods.

27 Jun 2025 EAEU and UAE signed economic partnership agreement On the sidelines of the June 27 Supreme Eurasian Economic Council's meeting in Minsk, an Economic Partnership Agreement was signed between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States, on the one part, and the United Arab Emirates, on the other part. The document was signed by: Mher Grigoryan, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Natalia Petkevich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus; Serik Jumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Daniyar Amangeldiev, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic; Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation; Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission; as well as Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates is one of the EAEU's main trading partners among the Gulf countries. The signed Economic Partnership Agreement is expected to mark a new milestone in trade relations with the UAE and take mutual trade to a new level. The work to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EAEU and the UAE, aimed at maximizing cooperation, lasted two and a half years. The created conditions will significantly increase trade turnover between the parties. "Within the framework of the new trade regime being established, the Emirati party has ensured preferential access for 86% of the commodity nomenclature. The Union's concessions cover 85% of the partner's commodity nomenclature," noted Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission. He specified that the preferential export coverage for our countries will extend to over 98% of current exports, or more than $12.1 billion in value terms. As a result of liberalizing the trade regime, the average rate applied by the UAE to EAEU goods will be reduced from 5% to 0.6%. Thus, annual savings on import customs duties are estimated at more than $260 million. In terms of goods, preferential access will be granted to key EAEU agricultural goods such as grains (wheat, barley, corn), meat (cattle, mutton, offal), poultry meat, eggs, dried vegetables (chickpeas, peas, lentils, beans), vegetable oil, dairy products (whole milk, milk powder, yogurts, whey, butter, cheese), confectionery, honey, mineral water, jams, chocolate. In terms of the industrial sector, concessions are granted to the following categories of goods: metallurgy products (rolled alloy steel products, hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, finished ferrous metal products, pipes, sections and angles, iron, aluminum and copper wire, aluminum foil, etc.), petroleum products (including light and other distillates), timber products (boards, plywood, pallets, furniture, etc.), pulp, printing products, drilling tools, and a wide range of mechanical equipment, from turbines to certain types of pumps. Liberalization will also affect electrical equipment (generator units, primary elements and primary batteries, electric batteries, etc.), railway containers, motor vehicles including special machinery, cosmetics (hair products, perfumes, deodorants, etc.), chemical products (paints, oils, surfactants, fertilizers) and medicines. The United Arab Emirates will be able to increase supplies of a wide range of consumer goods. These involve cosmetics, perfumes, watches, certain types of clothing. "The agreement is really ambitious, and not only in terms of tariff liberalization, but also in terms of the regulatory environment it shapes," Andrey Slepnev told. According to him, the document enshrines provisions that meet the best international standards regarding e-commerce, economic cooperation and involvement of SMEs in foreign economic activities between the EAEU countries and the UAE. "Our trade has more than tripled since 2020. Thanks to the enthusiasm of businesses and active work of the EEC and regulators of our countries in the near future once the agreement is effective, the trade turnover may exceed $20 billion," the EEC Minister in charge of Trade expressed confidence. Once signed, the economic partnership agreement will be submitted for ratification procedures in the UAE and EAEU countries required for its enactment.

27 Jun 2025 EAEU and Mongolia concluded interim trade agreement On the sidelines of the June 27 Supreme Eurasian Economic Council's meeting in Minsk, an Interim Trade Agreement was signed between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States, on the one part, and Mongolia, on the other part. The document was signed by: Mher Grigoryan, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Natalia Petkevich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus; Serik Jumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Daniyar Amangeldiev, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic; Alexey Overchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation; Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission; as well as Uchral Nyam-osor, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia and Minister of Economy and Development. The signed agreement marks a new stage in the development of trade relations between the EAEU countries and Mongolia. It covers 367 commodity sub-items for each party, on which customs duties will be zeroed out or reduced from the date the document enters into force. The agreement is concluded for three years with a possibility to renew it for an additional three-year period. "According to statistics, tariff preferences will cover $2 billion of EAEU exports to Mongolia, i.e. more than 90%. The agreed preferences will allow EAEU companies to save up to $100 million annually," noted Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission. As he explained, in accordance with the signed trade agreement agriculturists of the EAEU countries will have preferential conditions for supplying to the Mongolian market such essentials as wheat, corn, dairy products, vegetable oils, meat and poultry products, sugar, confectionery, cheese, mineral water and alcoholic beverages. As for industrial goods, growth in supplies is forecast for metallurgy products (ferroalloys, hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, rods, angles, pipes, etc.), motor vehicles (cars, buses, trucks, special machinery, automotive components, trailers, etc.), products of railway engineering and chemical industry (polymers, plastic sheets and parts), tires, nitrogen fertilizers, medicines, etc. In turn, Mongolian goods with preferential access will be meat (horse meat, cattle meat, mutton, canned meat, offal), dairy products (yogurts, cheese), light industry goods (wool, yarns), as well as finished light industry products of high-quality, including knitted and textile clothing. Possibilities for further cooperation are set out in the non-tariff part of the agreement: in technical regulation, sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary measures, customs cooperation, e-commerce and economic cooperation. "Over the past few years, trade turnover between the EAEU and Mongolia has already grown more than one and a half times. We expect that once the agreement is operational, this trend will be maintained and reinforced, which will allow us to increase our trade turnover to $3 billion," Andrey Slepnev stated. Once signed, the Interim Trade Agreement will be submitted for ratification procedures in Mongolia and the EAEU countries required for its enactment.

26 Jun 2025 Winners of Third Green Eurasia International Climate Competition Awarded On June 26 in Minsk on the sidelines of the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum the results of the third Green Eurasia international climate competition, organized by the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects (ASI), were announced. The main objectives of the competition are to identify technology leaders of the green agenda aimed at sustainable development of the Eurasian Economic Union states and promote efficient practices of climate mitigation and adaptation. "It is encouraging to see that the competition continues to gain momentum. This year we already have 16 participating countries, and not only from the EAEU and the Eurasian continent. Specifically, several African states took part in the competition," noted Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade. He emphasized that the competition is based on a combination of initiative, environmental friendliness and economic efficiency to ensure that climate practices are in line with the ideas of economic development. An important condition of the competition is that solutions proposed by participants could be replicated, becoming available to all. 41 participants won the competition in 2025: 25 from Russia, five from Belarus, two from China and India, respectively, one from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Moldova, Ethiopia and Senegal. Additionally, the organizers highlighted two practices in the cross-cutting category "Eurasian Perspective", recognizing projects with an international cooperation component, in the implementation of which several countries were involved. On the same day, a presentation of the Green Eurasia competition projects was held, during which the experts evaluated the practices of the winners and runners-up. The third Green Eurasia competition received 295 entries from Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. The practices with the highest climate mitigation and adaptation efficiency were expertly evaluated and selected across 10 categories.

24 Jun 2025 Anti-dumping duty on hot-deformed seamless pipes from PRC extended for five years The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission extended the anti-dumping duty on hot-deformed seamless pipes made of corrosion-resistant steel originating in the PRC until June 9, 2030 inclusive. "The decision was adopted following a repeated anti-dumping investigation initiated by the Department for Internal Market Protection on September 25, 2024 due to the expiration of the applied measure under the claim submitted by pipe manufacturers from the Eurasian Economic Union countries," noted Andrey Slepnev, the EEC Minister in charge of Trade. The claim was filed by Volzhsky Pipe Plant JSC, Pervouralsk Pipe Plant JSC and Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant JSC. The anti-dumping duty in respect of hot-deformed seamless corrosion-resistant steel pipes from the PRC was established in accordance with Decision No. 218 of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Board dated December 3, 2019. The amount of duty is 15.5% of the customs value. The measure was extended for the period of repeated investigation.  

24 Jun 2025 Vahagn Ghazaryan participated in events of Eurasian Research and Practice School in Minsk Vahagn Ghazaryan, Director of the Tariff and Non-Tariff Customs Regulation Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission, opened (via video conferencing) the third EEC model "Decision-Making in the Field of Tariff Customs Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Union" held as part of the Eurasian Research and Practice School "The Global Economy Space: Ideas, Strategies, Interaction" in Minsk. Over one hundred students from different CIS countries participate in the event. The purpose of the event is to popularize Eurasian integration among the youth of the CIS countries by reproducing the work of the Eurasian Economic Commission through simulating the Advisory Committee on Trade (Subcommittee on Customs Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation and Protective Measures). "The already traditional EEC model on customs tariff regulation is an excellent example of introducing young people to the activities of the Commission. The participants will acquire skills in international trade negotiations for a deeper understanding of the integration processes in the EAEU," mentioned Vahagn Ghazaryan. 

20 Jun 2025 Andrey Slepnev: "It is possible to create a market and fiscal system based on the principle of carbon footprint offset by accommodating the results of climate projects." This opinion was expressed by Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, at the session International Trade and Climate Regulation: Barrier-Free Solutions for BRICS, SCO, EAEU and APEC held by the EEC within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2025. "The system could be based on carbon footprint validation and offsetting, which implies higher costs for industrialized economies and lower such costs for developing countries where there are great possibilities for climate projects," the EEC Minister explained. As Andrey Slepnev noted, more international coordination is needed to ensure that national climate regulation does not turn into a trade barrier. In the case of the EAEU, the necessary measures are provided for in the Eurasian Economic Path Declaration. Thanks to them, the climate agenda should act as a driver rather than a brake on economic development. The EEC Minister also participated in the session Energy Sector Capital: Seeking Effective Solutions for Developing Nations, where he emphasized that only a reasonable combination of investments in green projects, net-zero emission projects and transit/transition technologies can make it to a rational approach, ensuring both technological transformation and decent economic growth rates. On the sidelines of the Forum Andrey Slepnev discussed bilateral trade and economic cooperation with Samir Abdelhafid, Minister of Economy and Planning of the Republic of Tunisia. It bears reminding that in January 2025, the parties established a joint research group to study the feasibility of concluding a free trade agreement between the EAEU and Tunisia. In addition, the head of the EEC trade unit held meetings with Dmitry Kim, CEO of Ozon Holding, and Tatyana Kim, founder of Wildberries, where the topics of e-commerce regulation in the EAEU were touched upon, as well as the possible entry of marketplaces into new promising foreign markets.

20 Jun 2025 Andrey Slepnev spoke at SPIEF 2025 sessions about e-commerce development and challenges of multipolar global economy On June 20, Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, spoke at the session Transnational E-Commerce: Putting New Rules in Place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2025. "When we talk about e-commerce regulation in the Union, we are discussing two topics: internal e-commerce between the Member States and foreign e-commerce with third countries," he recalled. The EEC Minister noted that in terms of foreign e-commerce, unequal conditions for the activities of domestic retailers and far abroad traders, when duties and taxes are not paid and the rules of technical regulation are not observed, will largely go away once the ratification procedure for amendments to the Customs Code is completed. "As far as our domestic regulatory framework is concerned, there is the issue of the ratio of national and transnational platforms, which is well regulated in the draft Agreement on Electronic Commerce in Goods in the EAEU. Three pillars of non-discrimination are stipulated there: by sellers, products and platforms," told Andrey Slepnev. According to him, the purpose of the Agreement is to provide businesses with better conditions in terms of digitalization of documents, protection of consumer rights in the country of destination, coordinated operation of the Union-specific structure for selling goods, including sellers, marketplaces and buyers from different EAEU Member States. Andrey Slepnev dwelt separately on the advantages offered by the Union's preferential trade agreements with third countries. He emphasized that all partners are willing to cooperate on e-commerce, which provides possibilities for SMEs to promote the export of goods. Also on that day, the head of the EEC trade unit took part in the session Shaping a Multipolar Economy: the Role of Russia and Eurasia, where he emphasized that at the moment world politics largely determines economic and trade transformation. This is well illustrated by the figures: if in 2021 the share of Western countries in the EAEU trade amounted to 58%, in 2024 it was already 18%. Meanwhile, for the BRICS countries and Türkiye, it rose from 30% to 56% during that period. Against this background, the Eurasian Economic Union demonstrates a high potential for preferential trade. In this regard, Andrey Slepnev touched upon the issue of concluding a free trade agreement with Indonesia, "Yesterday we completed substantive negotiations with this largest country in Southeast Asia, whose population exceeds 280 million people. We still have a number of technical issues that we will hopefully resolve within two weeks. So there is every chance of signing the agreement with Indonesia before the end of this year." 

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