Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012

2011: Data and Reviewsworking groups to study the feasibility of similar agreements with Syria,Vietnam, Mongolia and Egypt. The establishment of a Single Economic Spacefrom January 1, 2012 will be the next step towards integration. It is expectedthat the Customs Union Commission will be granted more authority to enableit to be more effective. From January 1, 2012 the Customs Union Commissionis invested with 90 new powers relating to tariffs, subsidies, foreign trade andcompetition policy.RBK DailyNo work permits for migrant workers from Russia, Belarus and KazakhstanJuly 4, 2011Russia’s State Duma ratified an agreement on the legal status of migrant workersfrom the CU member states, which streamlines the bureaucracy involved instaying and working in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Under the newagreement, migrant workers do not need work permits to work legally withinthe CU member states. Moreover, migrant workers from Russia, Belarus andKazakhstan and their family members have 30 days after entering the countryto register with the competent authorities there. The length of their stay willdepend on the duration of the work contract. Should the employment contractbe terminated migrant workers will have 15 days to find another job. However,migrant workers are prohibited from working in strategically important economicsectors, public order and healthcare services.These agreements represent the CU member states’ efforts to ease the movementof manufacturing resources, including labour.Bar code tracking introduced in grain marketJuly 6, 2011Expert KazakhstanExperts drafting technical legislation “On Safety of Grain” in the CU haveproposed a system for monitoring grain as it moves from the field to endconsumer. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development reports thata system of assigning a bar code to every grain market participant is beingconsidered. Starting July 5, the Ministry began negotiations on this proposal,with Kazakhstan being responsible for the relevant draft technical regulations.The draft will be based on similar technical regulations adopted by the EurAsEC,with a new section on ensuring grain traceability. The added section stipulatesthat unsafe grain should be withdrawn from circulation immediately and itsorigins traced, which would be possible as long as all participants in the grainmarket (at every stage of the supply chain) have registered with their relevantCU authority and received from them a special identification number (bar code).The bar code will carry information, such as where the grain was produced, the240 EDB Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012