Russia govt to consider Customs Union agt on products turnover.

MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - Customs Union countries intend to
sign an agreement on turnover of products subject to mandatory conformity
evaluation.

This issue will be considered on Thursday by the Russian
government's presidium on proposal of RF Deputy Minister of Industry and
Trade Vladimir Salamatov, it is said in materials for the meeting placed
on the official website of the cabinet.
If the agreement is signed, only products for which the sides
established "the same mandatory requirements and if they pass mandatory
conformity evaluation in the territory of any of these states, will be
admitted to turnover in the single customs territory of Russia, Belarus
and Kazakhstan. Simultaneously, these products should be included in the
single list of products subject to mandatory confirmation of conformity
within the framework of the Customs Union.
The Russian government believes that the fulfilment of this agreement
will make it possible to cut costs for the procedure of confirmation of
conformity and considerably reduce technical barriers in the mutual trade
in the common customs territory.
-0-


.Businessmen to exchange views on EurAsEC Customs Union.

ST. PETERSBURG, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of the
business community and politicians will exchange views on the issue of the
formation of the Customs Union within the framework of the Eurasian
Economic Community (EurAsEC) at a seminar that is opening in St.
Petersburg on Thursday.
The non-commercial partnership Eurasian Business Council and Customs
Union Commission were initiators of the discussion of the theoretical and
practical aspects of the creation of the new body. "At a meeting of the
EurAsEC Interstate Council that was held in Minsk the presidents of the
Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus and Republic of Kazakhstan made a
historic decision on the creation on January 1, 2010 of the Customs Union
and introduction of the single customs tariff. These decision are most
important for the formation of the common economic space. It is planned to
hold a series of seminars for the attraction of business and expert
communities to substantial discussion of the customs code, customs tariffs
and other common measures of trade regulation in the conditions of the
formation of the Customs Union," the event's organising committee told
Itar-Tass.
The first seminar on the formation of the Customs Union and
normative-legal regulation of external and mutual trade will be held at
the Tauride Palace on Thursday that is a traditional venue for the
discussion of plans of cooperation of members of the Eurasian Economic
Community. To attend the seminar are invited representatives of the
business community of Russia, EurAsEC countries and foreign states, as
well as non-governmental organisations representing the interests of
various forms and sectors of business.
The programme of the first seminar includes reports on the customs
procedure and organisation of customs control in the common territory, on
legal aspects of the formation of the Customs Union and on the spheres of
cooperation between customs bodies of the three states. The seminar is
timed to coincide with a meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Council at the
level of the heads of state that will be held in St. Petersburg on Friday.
-0-


.US supports integration of Ukraine in NATO, EU - Clinton.

WASHINGTON, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - The United States supports
Ukraine's integration in NATO and the EU, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Pyotr Poroshenko.
The American diplomacy head also expressed hope that the Ukrainian
presidential election scheduled for January 2010 will be free and fair.
She also stressed that the US is interested in ensuring Ukraine's energy
security.
The first meeting of the Ukraine-USA strategic partnership commission
was held within the framework of Poroshenko's visit to Washington. The
agreement on its creation was reached during US Vice President Joseph
Biden's visit to Kiev this July. According to Clinton, the United States
holes that the commission's work will help deepen the bilateral
cooperation in the sphere of security, economy, trade, energy and rule of
law.
-0-


.RF-Dutch intergovt comsn meeting to be held in May 2010-Zubkov.

THE HAGUE, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - Te Russia-Netherlands joint
commission for economic cooperation will hold its regular meeting in
Holland in late May 2010, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor
Zubkov told Itar-Tass in an exclusive interview summarising the results of
his working visit to the Netherlands.
On Wednesday, Zubkov met here Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende, his Dutch colleague in the intergovernmental commission -
Economics Minister Maria van der Hoeven, heads of companies of the Project
Delta group and visited a high technology centre of the Philips company.
According to Zubkov, the commission's May 2010 meeting will be
preceded by meetings of working groups on separate fields. Besides, at a
meeting with Hoeven the parties agreed to hold next March-April a joint
working meeting on cooperation in the oil and natural gas sphere. It will
be held in a northern region of Russia with invitation of Dutch companies
that have displayed interest in cooperation in this economy sphere, he
said.
-0-ezh