On the ratification of the Agreement on the Formation of a Single Economic Space

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The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 28, 2004 No. 549.

To ratify the Agreement on the Formation of a Single Economic Space, signed in Yalta on September 19, 2003.

President

Republic of Kazakhstan

Agreement on the formation of a single economic space

The Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as the Parties,

Striving to promote the economic and social progress of their peoples and improve their standard of living;

driven by the desire to strengthen the economies of the Parties and ensure their harmonious development by consistently implementing economic reforms to further deepen multilateral economic cooperation and strengthen integration processes by reaching mutually beneficial agreements on the formation of a Single Economic Space (hereinafter referred to as the CES);

Recognizing at the same time the right of the Parties to determine their participation in the process of forming the Common Economic Space, taking into account their readiness to further deepen integration processes;

Reaffirming the friendly relations that bind States and peoples, desiring to ensure their prosperity based on the universally recognized principles and norms of international law;

Having regard to the Statement of the Presidents of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine dated February 23, 2003;

have agreed on the following:

Article 1

In order to create conditions for the stable and effective development of the economies of the Parties and improve the standard of living of the population, the Parties are embarking on the process of forming the Common Economic Space.

The Parties understand the Single Economic Space as an economic space uniting the customs territories of the Parties, in which mechanisms for regulating economies operate based on common principles that ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, and a single foreign trade and coordinated trade is conducted to the extent and to the extent necessary to ensure equal competition. and maintaining macroeconomic stability, tax, monetary and monetary policy.

The Parties strive to promote:

the development of trade and investment between the Parties, ensuring the sustainable development of the economies of the Parties on the basis of generally recognized principles and norms of international law, as well as WTO rules and principles;

to strengthen the unity and development of economic potentials, as well as to increase the competitiveness of the economies of the Parties in foreign markets.

Article 2

The step-by-step solution of the tasks of deepening integration is conditioned by the fulfillment of the obligations assumed by the Parties and the actual solution of the following tasks:

The formation of a free trade zone without exceptions and restrictions, which implies the non-use of antidumping, countervailing and special protective measures in mutual trade based on a unified policy in the field of tariff and non-tariff regulation, uniform competition rules, the use of subsidies and other forms of government support.;

unification of the principles of development and application of technical regulations and standards, sanitary and phytosanitary standards;

harmonization of macroeconomic policy;

creating conditions for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor;

harmonization of the laws of the Parties to the extent necessary

It is necessary for the functioning of the Common Economic Space, including trade and competition policy;

the formation of uniform principles for regulating the activities of natural monopolies (in the field of railway transport, mainline telecommunications, transportation of electricity, oil, gas and other areas), a unified competition policy and ensuring non-discriminatory access and an equal level of tariffs for services of subjects of natural monopolies.

Article 3

The Parties, in accordance with the goals and objectives specified in Articles 1 and 2 of this Agreement, shall carry out activities provided for in the Concept for the Formation of a Single Economic Space attached to this Agreement and which is an integral part of it.

In order to implement this Agreement, the Parties will develop a set of basic measures to form a Single Economic Space.

Article 4

Coordination of the processes of formation and functioning of the Common Economic Space is carried out by the relevant bodies, the structure of which is formed taking into account the level of integration.

The CES bodies are created on the basis of a combination of interstate elements and the principle of transferring part of the powers of the Parties to a single regulatory body with a gradual increase in the importance of the latter.

Coordination and management of the formation and functioning of the Common Economic Space at the interstate level is provided by the Council of Heads of State (hereinafter referred to as the Council of Heads of State).

The number of votes of each participating State within the framework of the SGG is distributed based on the principle of "one State - one vote". The decisions of the SGG are made by consensus.

The Parties establish a single regulatory body of the Common Economic Space, to which they delegate part of their powers on the basis of international treaties. Its decisions are binding on all Parties.

In the single regulatory body of the Common Economic Space, decisions on all issues are made by a balanced vote. The number of votes of each Party is determined based on its economic potential. The distribution of votes is determined on the basis of an agreement between the Parties.

Any Party has the right to submit to the SGG a proposal to review the decision of the single regulatory body of the CES.

A separate international treaty will provide for a compensation mechanism if the decision causes significant economic damage to one or more Parties.

Article 5

The Common Economic Space is formed in stages, taking into account the possibility of multi-level and multi-speed integration.

The transition from one stage to another is carried out by those Parties that have fully implemented the measures provided for in the previous stage of the Package of Basic Measures for the Formation of a Single Economic Space.

The parties join international agreements that ensure the formation and functioning of the Common Economic Space, as soon as they are ready. At the same time, each Party must comply with the agreed sequence of accession to such international treaties. Neither Side can prevent the other Parties from accelerating towards a higher degree of integration.

Multi-level and multi-speed integration means that each Party independently determines which areas of integration development or individual integration activities it participates in and to what extent.

Article 6

The legal basis for ensuring the formation and functioning of the CES is international treaties and decisions of the CES bodies, concluded and adopted taking into account the laws of the Parties and in accordance with generally recognized norms and principles of international law.

Article 7

Disputes and disagreements between the Parties regarding the interpretation and/or application of the provisions of this Agreement are resolved through consultations and negotiations.

Article 8

This Agreement is open for accession by other States that share its goals and principles, on terms agreed with all Parties to this Agreement.

For the acceding State, this Agreement shall enter into force on the date of receipt by the depositary of the last notification of the Parties' consent to such accession.

Article 9

By mutual agreement of the Parties, amendments and additions may be made to this Agreement, which are formalized by separate protocols that are an integral part of this Agreement and enter into force in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 10 of this Agreement.

Article 10

This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of receipt by the depositary of the last written notification that the Parties have completed the internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

Article 11

This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period.

Each Party may withdraw from this Agreement by sending a written notification to the depositary at least 12 months prior to withdrawal.

The Republic of Kazakhstan is the depositary of this Agreement.

The Depositary shall notify all parties to this Agreement within one month of any Party's withdrawal from the Agreement.

Done in Yalta, September 19, 2003, in one original copy in the Russian language. The original copy is kept in the archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which will send a certified copy to each signatory State of this Agreement.

For the Republic of Belarus

For the Russian Federation

For the Republic of Kazakhstan

For Ukraine

The concept of formation The Common Economic Space

The Concept of Forming a Single Economic Space (hereinafter referred to as the Concept) is a program of measures to form a Single Economic Space of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the participating States) in order to deepen multilateral economic cooperation.

The Single Economic Space (hereinafter referred to as the CES) is understood by the participating States to be an economic space uniting the customs territories of the participating States, in which economic regulation mechanisms operate based on common principles ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, and a single foreign trade and coordinated, to the extent and to the extent to the extent necessary to ensure equal competition and maintain macroeconomic stability, tax, monetary, monetary and financial policies.

I. Goals and objectives

The purpose of the formation of the Common Economic Space is to create conditions for the stable and effective development of the economies of the participating states and to improve the standard of living of the population.

The Participating States shall endeavour to promote:

the development of trade and investment between the participating States, ensuring the sustainable development of the economies of the participating States on the basis of generally recognized norms and principles of international law;

creating opportunities for the development of entrepreneurial activity by establishing harmonized regulatory systems and integrating the infrastructure complex;

integration and building up the economic potentials of the participating States in order to increase the competitiveness of the economies of the participating States in foreign markets.

The step-by-step solution of the tasks of deepening integration is conditioned by the fulfillment by the participating States of their obligations and the actual solution of the following tasks:

unification of the principles of development and application of technical regulations and standards, sanitary and phytosanitary standards;

harmonization of macroeconomic policy;

creating conditions for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor;

harmonization of the laws of the participating states to the extent necessary for the functioning of the Common Economic Space, including trade and competition policy;

formation of uniform principles for regulating the activities of natural monopolies (in the field of railway transport, mainline telecommunications, transportation of electricity, oil, gas and other areas), a unified competition policy and ensuring non-discriminatory access and an equal level of tariffs for services provided by natural monopolies.

II. Basic principles

The main principles of the CES functioning are ensuring the freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labor across the borders of the participating states.

The principle of free movement of goods provides for the elimination of exemptions from the free trade regime and the lifting of restrictions in mutual trade based on the unification of customs tariffs, the formation of a common customs tariff established on the basis of a methodology agreed upon by the participating States, non-tariff regulation measures, and the use of instruments for regulating trade in goods with third countries.

The mechanisms for applying anti-dumping, countervailing, special and protective measures in mutual trade will be replaced by uniform rules in the field of competition and subsidies.

The principle of ensuring the free movement of services presupposes the formation of common rules and approaches to ensure full access to the market of services and service providers within the CES and the implementation of a coordinated policy on access of third countries to the market of services and service providers of the CES.

The principle of ensuring the free movement of capital presupposes the gradual lifting of all restrictions on the movement of capital from the CES member States and the implementation of a coordinated policy in the field of capital market development, subject to ensuring macroeconomic stability.

The principle of ensuring the free movement of labor is to ensure the unhindered movement of individuals of the participating states within the framework of the Common Economic Space and the formation of a coordinated migration policy towards third countries, taking into account the norms and principles of international law and the WTO.

The principle of conducting a coordinated macroeconomic policy ensures the convergence of macroeconomic indicators, including the alignment of domestic prices, primarily for energy resources, and tariffs for natural monopolies.

The principles of conducting a common policy in individual sectors presuppose the conclusion of sectoral agreements developed as a follow-up to the Agreement on the Formation of a Single Economic Space.

The Common Economic Space is formed in stages, taking into account the possibility of multi-level and multi-speed integration.

Multi-speed integration means that each State independently determines the moment of accession to an international treaty, which leads to multi-level integration when the participating States are at different levels of integration interaction.

Multi-level and multi-speed integration means that each participating State independently determines which areas of integration development or individual integration activities it will participate in and to what extent. The state has the opportunity to join international treaties that ensure the formation and functioning of the Common Economic Space, as soon as it is ready. At the same time, the State must comply with the agreed sequence of accession to the list of international treaties. For States to accede to international treaties in force within the framework of the Common Economic Space, the consent of all States parties to these international treaties is required. This rule applies to the functioning of the basic principles and conditions of the Common Economic Space, defined by this Concept.

The transition from one stage of the formation of the Common Economic Space to another is carried out by those participating states that have completed the activities provided for in the previous stage of the Set of Basic Measures for the Formation of the Single Economic Space.

The scope of the advantages provided by the participating states to each other is determined by the agreements on the formation of the Common Economic Space to which they are parties.

The non-participation or partial participation of any participating State in certain areas of integration development or individual integration activities should not be an obstacle for other participating States in the implementation of these areas of integration development or individual integration activities.

Later dates for the accession of a member State to certain areas of integration development or individual integration measures do not change its status as a member of the Common Economic Space.

Taking into account the different degrees of integration of the CES founding states (the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus are Union States, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan are EurAsEC members), the timing of a possible transition to higher degrees of integration is determined by each participating state independently.

The completion of the formation of a free trade zone is the primary and basic stage of the formation of the Common Economic Space.

The Common Economic Space is formed taking into account such principles as voluntariness, economic mutual benefit, non-discrimination, legal guarantee, alignment of goals, responsibility for commitments, transparency.

III. The main directions of the formation of a single economic space

The Common Economic Space is being formed gradually by increasing the level of integration, through synchronization of economic transformations carried out by the participating states, joint measures to implement a coordinated economic policy, harmonization and unification of legislation in the field of economics, trade and other areas, taking into account generally recognized norms and principles of international law, as well as the experience and legislation of the European Union.

The directions of integration and measures for their implementation are determined on the basis of relevant international treaties and decisions of the CES bodies, which provide for their mandatory implementation for each of the participating states in full, as well as the mechanism for their implementation and responsibility for non-compliance with agreed decisions.

The formation of the Common Economic Space implies the implementation of the following fundamental measures:

establishment of a trade regime for goods without exceptions and restrictions on the basis of:

- implementation of a set of measures to complete the creation of a free trade zone without exceptions and restrictions, providing for the free movement of goods and services based on uniform rules of competition and the use of subsidies, and the implementation of a coordinated policy in the field of tariff and non-tariff regulation;

- formation of a common customs tariff;

- defining common rules for competition policy and regulation of natural monopolies, including ensuring non-discriminatory access and equal tariffs for services provided by natural monopolies, subsidies and other forms of government support;

- unification of non-tariff regulation measures based on WTO rules and regulations, creation of a unified procedure for their application in relation to third countries;

- non-application of tariff and non-tariff restrictions in mutual trade;

- unification of the trade regimes of the participating States in relation to third countries;

- simplification of the procedure for customs clearance and customs control at the internal customs borders, followed by their abolition at the final stage;

unification of the principles of development and application of technical regulations and standards, sanitary and phytosanitary standards;

liberalization of access regimes to the services market, gradual elimination of existing barriers and restrictions;

coordination of conditions for creating a favorable climate for attracting investments in priority sectors and production;

implementation of a unified policy in the field of intellectual property rights protection;

harmonization of taxation principles, including the transition to agreed principles for the collection of indirect taxes without exemptions, the prevention of the use of taxes and fees as a tool to protect the domestic market and national producers;

creating conditions for the mutual convertibility of national currencies and the transition to settlements in national currencies, consistent liberalization of monetary policy, coordination of the mechanism for setting exchange rates of national currencies, the formation of an effective payment system, increasing the degree of liberalization of capital flows as the economic situation of the participating States improves.;

creation of a common labor market with free movement of citizens of the participating States;

taking measures to formalize and ensure the formation of the Common Economic Space;

development of a mechanism for making and ensuring the implementation of decisions.

The implementation of the above measures is ensured through the implementation of a set of basic measures to form a Single Economic Space.

IV. Cooperation during negotiations on WTO accession

The formation and operation of the CES is carried out taking into account the norms and rules of the WTO.

Based on the fact that the participating States are at various stages of the negotiation process for joining this organization, it is necessary to develop a mechanism for coordinating positions during negotiations on WTO accession, taking into account the possibilities of multi-level and multi-speed integration. This mechanism may involve:

holding quarterly consultations to discuss the progress of WTO accession negotiations;

the accession of the participating States to the WTO on agreed terms.

The participating States independently choose the specific forms of the mechanism for coordinating positions during negotiations on WTO accession.

If one of the participating States joins the WTO earlier than the others, it will:

to facilitate the early accession of other Member States to the WTO;

Refrain from making demands on other participating States in the framework of WTO accession negotiations.

V. Institutional foundations for the formation of a single economic space and decision-making procedures

The processes of forming the Common Economic Space are coordinated by the relevant bodies established on the basis of separate international treaties. The structure of the bodies is formed taking into account the levels of integration.

The CES bodies are created on the basis of a combination of interstate elements and the principle of transferring part of the powers of the participating states to a single regulatory body with a gradual increase in the importance of the latter.

Coordination and management of the formation of the Common Economic Space at the interstate level will be provided by the Council of Heads of the Participating States (hereinafter referred to as the SGG).

The number of votes of each participating State within the framework of the SGG is distributed based on the principle of "one State - one vote". The decisions of the SGG are made by consensus.

The participating States shall establish a single regulatory body (Commission) to which they delegate part of their powers on the basis of international treaties. Its decisions are binding on all Participating States.

The Commission begins its functioning from the moment of the introduction of a common customs tariff or uniform competition rules, whichever is introduced earlier. As integration processes develop and deepen, the powers of the single regulatory body expand accordingly.

In the Commission, decisions on all issues are made by a balanced vote. The number of votes of each of the participating States is determined taking into account its economic potential. The distribution of votes and the voting procedure shall be established on the basis of an agreement between the participating States.

The main powers of the SGG are:

determining the prospects for further integration within the CES;

monitoring the implementation of a set of basic measures for the formation of a Single Economic Space;

ensuring the application and observance of the basic principles and measures taken to form the Common Economic Space;

development of trade and economic policy in relation to third countries;

making decisions on the admission of new members to the CES;

setting objectives for the unification of customs, tariff and competition policies of the CES member states and reviewing Commission reports;

making other decisions on fundamental issues of the CES functioning.

In order to ensure the proper functioning and development of the CES, the Commission, within its competence,:

ensures the implementation of the goals and objectives of the CES;

makes decisions and gives opinions on issues related to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the CES;

develops drafts of regulatory legal acts, methodological materials and other documents necessary to achieve the goals and objectives of the CES;

exercises other powers.

VI. Legal, financial and information support

The legal basis for the formation and operation of the CES is international treaties and decisions of the CES bodies, concluded and adopted taking into account the interests and laws of the participating states, and in accordance with generally recognized norms and principles of international law.

Taking into account the multi-speed and multi-level nature of integration, decisions on the completion of work on the preparation of drafts of international treaties and other CES documents are made if the relevant project has been agreed upon by at least three participating states, which account for at least two thirds of the total gross domestic product.

The participating States recognize the need to consolidate the mechanism for the implementation of decisions taken, the imposition of sanctions for their non-compliance, as well as the dispute resolution mechanism in each international agreement they have concluded aimed at forming the Common Economic Space. These documents should contain provisions on the inadmissibility of reservations to them.

Financing of the CES bodies is carried out at the expense of shared contributions from the participating states, proportional to the number of votes of the participating states in a single regulatory body.

To ensure the functioning of the CES, a database is being formed, which concentrates constantly updated information of an economic and legal nature.

VII. Conclusion

The CES is open for other states to join it, provided they accept obligations arising from international treaties concluded and operating within the CES, their compliance with the macroeconomic and institutional criteria established by the agreement of the participating States, and with the consent of all participating States.

Any participating state has the right to withdraw from the Common Economic Space, having previously settled its obligations assumed within the framework of the formation of the Common Economic Space.

From the date of withdrawal of a State Party from the Common Economic Space, the obligations of other States Parties to that State Party arising from international treaties concluded within the framework of the Common Economic Area and decisions taken shall cease to be valid.

I hereby certify that this text is a complete and authentic copy of the text of the Concept of the Formation of the Single Economic Space, adopted on September 19, 2003 in Yalta.

Signed in total

and printing 8 sheets.

Advisor

International law

Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan

Ukraine's reservation to the Agreement on the Formation of a Single Economic Space

Ukraine will participate in the formation and functioning of the Single Economic Space within the limits consistent with the Constitution of Ukraine.

President

Of Ukraine

Yalta, September 19, 2003

I hereby certify that this text is a complete and authentic copy of the text of the Agreement on the Formation of the Single Economic Space, adopted on September 19, 2003 in Yalta.

Signed in total

and printing 7 sheets.

Advisor

International law

Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan

President

Republic of Kazakhstan

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