Tariff regulation issues are specified by the Law of Republic of Belarus “Customs Tariff” of February 3^rd, 1993.

According to Article 2 of the Law, the Custom duties of the Republic of Belarus correspond to a code of rates of the customs duties (custom duties) applied to goods moved through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus, which are the condition of such moving. It is also fixed that Belarus’ custom duties are integrated according to the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Trade Activities of the Republic of Belarus, which is generated proceeding from the systems of classification of goods accepted in the international practice.

The following types of the customs duties rates are applied in Belarus: ad valorem (charged in percentage of customs cost of the assessed goods), specific (charged in the established size for a unit of measure of the assessed goods) and combined (combine both kinds of customs registration).

The custom duties of the Republic of Belarus are divided into two parts: the import tariff and the export tariff.

Rates of the import customs duties on a constant basis (“base” rates) are confirmed by the Decision of Council of Ministers of Republic of Belarus № 865 of June, 28^th, 2002.

Import to Belarus of goods originating from the territories of countries, with where the Republic of Belarus has entered into agreements on free trade, is carried out duty-free (now their number includes all CIS countries). “Base” rates of the import customs duties are applied concerning the countries using the status of the most favoured treatment.

Goods originating from countries, to where the Republic of Belarus does not apply the most favoured nation treatment in trade and political relations, or goods with unidentified country of origin, imported to the customs area of the Republic of Belarus, are assessed with the import customs duties under the “base” rates multiplied by 2.

Belarus provides tariff preferences to developing and least developed countries in form of reduction of the customs duties rates by 25 and 100 percent accordingly concerning the final inventory established by the President of the Republic of Belarus.

The list of developing and least developed countries, and the inventory it extends on, are confirmed by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus “On Setting Tariff Preferences” № 14 of April 18th, 2003.

Seasonal rates of the customs duties are applied to some kinds of vegetables (carrot, beet, cabbage). Higher import customs duties rates on some consumer and industrial goods are temporarily established. The “zero” rate of the import customs duties is set for different types of processing equipment used for modernisation of producers.

The export customs duties are applied basically to raw goods exported from the customs area of the Republic of Belarus outside the member states of the Euroasian Economic Community. These duties are set taking into account economic interests of the Republic of Belarus and in order to fulfill the international obligations of the Republic of Belarus.

Export customs duty rates on timber and its derivatives are confirmed by the Decree of the President of Republic of Belarus № 717 of December 5^th, 2006.

According to the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on settlement of trade and economic cooperation measures in the field of export of oil and mineral oil of January 12^th, 2007, the export customs duty rates on oil and mineral oil are established equal to rates applied in the Russian Federation, and are installed in the same terms as the rates established by corresponding legislation of the Russian Federation. Thereupon the export customs duty rates on oil and mineral oil are being corrected every two months. The latest changes are confirmed by the Decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus № 366 of March 24^th, 2007.

Export customs duty rates on other goods (different kinds of fish, seeds, canbcroid, spirit, mineral products, fertilizers, plastic, skins, jewels and metals, non-precious metals) are confirmed by the Decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus № 864 of June 28^th, 2002.