RELATIONSHIPS WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS.

INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION OF CUSTOMS.

Relationships are all about give and take. Strong relationships are very important in business. This is
especially true in international business, where there needs to be so much trust and dependability because big things
are happening across large distances. Although the foundations upon which relationships are built are similar for
domestic and international markets, building relationships internationally comes with its own challenges.
Your actions will need to speak louder than your words. The following five considerations will help you
build strong international business relationships with your global partners.
1) Focus on building credibility with your global business partners.
You’re credible if you’re honest, transparent and tell it like it is. This quality will naturally make its way to the
products you represent.
2) Set the right expectations so you can always follow-through.
Nobody likes it when expectations aren’t met. Whether it’s a deadline or a product specification, don’t assume
there’s understanding; ensure that everyone’s on the same page. Learn from every transaction and use what you learn
to perfect the next one.
3) Listen to your global customers and adapt your offerings accordingly.
Everyone and every business has their motivations for being in relationships. Listen to your global partners
and learn their goals and what motivates them. Ensure that you align your offerings with their goals. This is a simple
sales concept, but you have to be able to answer their question, «What’s in it for me?»
Don’t make the mistake of expecting that what’s working for you at home can be forced onto a foreign
market. Listen and adapt. Listen to your partners’ preferred communication style too. If you’re not getting prompt
replies to your emails, they may prefer talking over the phone.
4) Share any knowledge that will help your partnerships succeed.
Knowledge is power.
The more you equip your distributors with knowledge, the more convinced they’ll be to continue working
with you.
This point escapes some companies. There ought to be two types of shared knowledge: One that’s relevant to
the distributor, and another which is relevant to the customer. The distributor needs to learn both so they can run their
business side and also learn how to position the product in the market. Keep distributors informed with all relevant
updates on your products so they’re always motivated to work with you.
5) It comes down to “Trust” for building long-term international business relationships.
Trust is the result of behaving credibly, setting the right expectations, listening and adapting, and sharing
knowledge. Trust leads to successful business transactions which are repeated for many years. It’s the foundation for
long, lasting and fruitful relationships. Studies have shown that it costs seven times as much to acquire a new
customer as it does to keep an existing one. With trust, you’re keeping the existing ones. And each of them will get
you three more!

International customs cooperation meets the political and economic interests of the Republic of Belarus and is
an important factor in the interaction with global structures.
International customs cooperation is developing in the mood of good neighborly relations and close
cooperation, development of compromise decision, constructive mutually beneficial dialogue, which represents the
deepening of customs links and reflects the current process of international economic integration.
The Republic of Belarus participates in international cooperation in the sphere of customs regulation in order
to harmonize and uniform the legislation with the norms of international law and generally accepted international
practice.
In order to develop many-sided cooperation of the Republic of Belarus, improvement of the legal framework,
the implementation of international obligations, the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus cooperate with the
customs services of foreign countries, participate in the work of various international organizations and integration
associations.
The main objectives of the international customs cooperation:
1) To form the international legal basis;
2) To conduct the meetings and consultations, including the participation in the work of sectoral
authorities of managing integration;
3) To participation in the work of international organizations on the issues of customs regulation;
4) To cooperation in the framework of international technical assistance and cross-border cooperation
programs.
I. PARTICIPATION IN THE INTEGRATION ASSOCIATIONS.
 The most close and fruitful customs cooperation of the Republic of Belarus is conducted in the post-Soviet
area in the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS).
The Union State, as an interstate union, marks a new stage in the process of uniting the peoples of the two
countries - Belarus and Russia. The Union State was established in accordance with the Agreement on the
Establishment of the Union State, signed in Moscow on December 8, 1999.
The main objectives of the establishment of the Union State:
 ensuring the development of fraternal peoples;
 creation of a single economic space;
 respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens;
 implementation of cohesive foreign and defense policies;
 establishing a unified legal system;
 implementation of a cohesive social policy;
 ensuring the security of the Union State and the fight against crime.
The Union State of Belarus and Russia is based on the principles of the sovereign equality of the member
states, voluntariness, and faithful fulfillment of mutual obligations. The Union State assumes the delimitation of
competences and powers between the Union State and the member states.
Cooperation of the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation within the
framework of the Union State in the main areas of customs administration is implemented within the framework of
the functioning of the Customs Committee of the Union State.
The Customs Committee of the Union State is called upon to carry out customs regulation within the
framework of powers similar to the competence of the customs services as defined by the legislation of the Member
States of the Union State, using international legal methods and mechanisms.
Another integration union in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union is a Joint board of customs
services of the member states of the Customs Union, established in accordance with the Agreement on the Joint board
of customs services of the member states of the Customs Union dated 22 June 2011 and currently includes customs
services of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Decisions of the Joint board are made by vote (consensus), each member state of the Eurasian Economic
Union has a casting vote. The decision is made if none of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union did not
vote against this decision.
Additionally, it is worth noting the active development of customs cooperation in the post-Soviet area,
including in the framework of the CIS. Since the emergence of the CIS customs policies in the framework of the
Commonwealth, is one of the main instruments of influence on the dynamics of economic transformation taking
place in each member state of the CIS.
In part, it is possible thanks to the functioning of the continuing body of sectoral cooperation of the CIS -
Council of heads of customs services of CIS member states, which ensures the coordination of cooperation of the
customs services of the CIS member states in the sphere of customs policy. The Council also develops proposals for
brining issues for customs affairs for consideration at meetings of the Council of CIS Heads of State, Council of the
CIS Heads of Governments, CIS Economic Council.
It should be noted that the main result of the cooperation of customs services in the last couple of years in the
work of the Council was the completion of initiated by the Customs Service of the Republic of Belarus inventory of
the international legal framework of the CIS member states in the sphere of customs, the results of which determined
the international agreements, the effect of which is advisable to stop and the international agreements that require
updating by means of making amendments and additions to them.

II. COOPERATION WITH CUSTOMS SERVICES OF FOREIGN STATES.

Regarding the international legal framework creation on issues of customs control, it should be noted that it is
based on the generally recognized rules and principles of international law, in particular on the provisions of the
International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures of May 18, 1973, in the
Protocol of 26 June 1999 year (the so-called Kyoto Convention), as well as the standards and rules of the World
Customs Organization (WCO), in particular the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade.
The Republic of Belarus has joined to Kyoto Convention in 2009 and become the 72nd member state.
A fundamental principle of the Convention is to maximize the promotion of international trade by adoption of
simplified standard rules and procedures, the widespread introduction of information technologies and establishment
of partnerships with law-abiding participants of foreign economic activity.
 The rules of the Convention by the establishment of easy-to-understand, uniform in the interpretation and
clear for the application of regulatory requirements create conditions for the smooth movement of goods, reducing the
time of customs procedures and unification of customs documents, that, as a result, helps to increase trade turnover
among the countries, investment attractiveness of the national economies and increase their business activity.
Thus, all international agreements, the issue of which is conducted by the SCC, meet the international
standards and the requirements of international law.
Development of international instruments in the sphere of customs is one of the most important activities of
the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus, the implementation of which depends on the effectiveness of the
fulfillment of their tasks.
In particular, international agreements of the Republic of Belarus on cooperation and mutual assistance in
customs affairs are the legal basis for cooperation of customs services of the Republic of Belarus with customs
authorities of foreign states, as well as the legal basis for the conclusion of international agreements of the
interdepartmental character on the various areas of cooperation.
To summarize the provisions and the subject of regulation of such international agreements it can be said that
customs authorities under agreements may cooperate and provide mutual assistance in order to: a) ensure the proper
application of customs legislation; b) the prevention, investigation and addressing violations of customs legislation; c)
assistance in simplification of transit across the customs territory of the Contracting Parties.
The agreements define the order of the supplying and use of information, transfer of documents, conduction of
the targeted control over goods and vehicles, the use of the method of controlled delivery to identify the persons
involved in committing customs offenses.
Contractual framework expands the legal boundaries of international cooperation, which has a positive effect
on the efficiency of fulfillment of the tasks to protect the economic interests of the state.
At present there are about 75 international agreements dealing with the various aspects of customs
cooperation. This figure does not include contracts that make up the right of the Eurasian Economic Union on the
issues of customs administration.

III. COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of October 30, 2002 № 1504 "About
cooperation of the Republic of Belarus with international organizations" defined that the lead agency on cooperation
of the Republic of Belarus and the World Customs Organization, and the Administrative Committee for the Customs
Convention on International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets is the State Customs Committee, whose
function is to ensure the effective participation of the republic in the World Customs Organization and the
Administrative Committee of the TIR Convention and taking the necessary actions to protect the national interests.
The main objectives of the participation in the work of the Administrative Committee of the TIR Convention
are to consider and make amendments to the TIR Convention, to participate in systems of guarantee functioning
monitoring of TIR, to promote the initiatives of the Republic of Belarus in part of possibility of the application of
additional safeguards, as well as studying the measures taken by the Contracting Parties, within the TIR Convention,
to create favorable conditions for transit of goods through the territory of the Republic of Belarus, to ensure the
growth of transit volumes and improve transit attractiveness of the Republic of Belarus.
It should be noted the cooperation of the customs service of the Republic of Belarus with the World Customs
Organization, which is an intergovernmental international organization which contains the customs services of 180
countries, which account for nearly 98% of world trade.
The Republic of Belarus has become a member of the World Customs Organization on December 16, 1993
and currently is an active member of it, taking advantage of the right to receive some assistance in the framework of
the World Customs Organization on customs issues.
In June 2005 at the Council Session of the World Customs Organization the heads of customs services of one
hundred and seventy of the world customs services have taken the designed by the World Customs Organization the
Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitation of Global Trade (the Framework).
Тhe WCO experts praised the accomplished work of the Republic of Belarus to modernize and improve the
customs service of the Republic of Belarus, to simplify the customs procedures, to use information technology and
the introduce the electronic declaration system.