Belarus has decided to cancel export customs duties on all kind of commodities, excepting oil and oil products, in order to create competitive conditions for the domestic exporters during the period of global crisis, said Belarus' foreign ministry, commenting on government decree No. 135.
According to the foreign ministry, the duty cancellation will allow the country's exporters to keep more working assets, to increase the production and export of competitive products, and to enable companies to decrease their prices for foreign markets, raising in this way their competitiveness.
Prior to the decree in question, Belarus' export duties affected some raw materials, including ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals.
According to Belarus' foreign ministry, abolishment of export duties does not conflict with the plans to set a unified customs tariff in the customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. The three countries are going to unify their import tariffs, but there are no such plans with regard to export tariffs.