Work to remove barriers within EAEU nominal - Kazakh PM

NUR-SULTAN. Feb 25 (Interfax) - A considerable number of issues related to restrictions on access to partners' markets remain unresolved within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov said.

"I have to acknowledge that a significant number of issues dealing with restrictions on access to partners' markets remain unresolved from one year to the next. Nothing has been done there for more than ten years to tackle the issue of creating equal terms for access of alcohol products to the markets of the member states. I have to admit that in certain cases, the work to remove barriers is just nominal," Smailov said at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Nur-Sultan on Friday.

The EAEU member states "need to agree to make some basic progress here," he said.

"We ask the commission to work out methods for the economic evaluation of existing barriers. Apart from confirming the presence of such a barrier, it is necessary to assess the damage to business and integration in general," Smailov said.

"By strengthening trade ties, we become largely dependent on mutual deliveries. In this context, we call on our partners to pursue a balanced approach when adopting domestic decisions that impact mutual trade," he said.

As an example, Smailov referred to a ban on deliveries of Russian timber inside the EAEU, a circumstance which he believes "effectively paralyzes the functioning of whole industries in Kazakhstan."

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