Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a federal law ratifying the Customs Code, which paves the way for the creation of a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, the Kremlin said on its website.
The Customs Union formally came into existence on January 1, but is unable to start working fully until all three ex-Soviet states iron out all their disagreements. The Customs Code is expected to come into effect from July 1.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in late May the premiers of the three countries had failed to agree on the basic parameters of economic cooperation within the Customs Union at their meeting in St. Petersburg.
The main areas of contention are the import of foreign cars and aircraft into the Union's customs territory and export duties on Russian oil and petroleum products to Belarus.
Moscow and Minsk faced off at the start of the year over tariffs on imports of Russian oil, which Belarus said should be completely duty-free in the Customs Union.
On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country is ready to make concessions to push through the creation of the Customs Union "even if they are difficult and sensitive for us at some stage."
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the creation of the Customs Code in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on November 27, 2009.
MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti)
