YEREVAN. – Armenia will sign the Customs Union (CU) accession document at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting, which will be convened on April 29 in the Belarusian capital city Minsk.   

Acting Economy Minister Vahram Avanesyan told the aforesaid to reporters on Thursday, the RFE/RL Armenian service reported.  

Avanesyan added, however, that the negotiations on the exceptions have not yet concluded.

The customs duties of about 60 percent of the goods are higher in the CU than in Armenia. A total of 11,553 line items are included in the CU Customs Code. Official Yerevan had started negotiations toward getting exceptions on around 900 goods, so that the latter’s customs clearance is still conducted in accordance with the lower rates that exist in Armenia.    

To the query as to whether Armenia will become a CUmember without clarifying its terms of membership, Avanesyan responded: “That’s not the case. We are negotiating about the topic and the signature date is determined: the 29th of the month [of April]. But the outcome of the final negotiations will be on the 28th of the month.

“We can’t say whether or not the negotiations will be completed in full, but we hope they conclude; this is normal practice. There is the day of signing and the day of the end of negotiations in the case of any negotiation.”