DUSHANBE, July 5, 2010, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan should not hurry to join the Customs Union, Tajik political scientist Parviz Mullojonov says.
“Firstly, Tajikistan does not have common border with member nations of the Customs Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia), and therefore, Tajikistan may join the Customs Union only after one of neighboring countries joins it; I mean, first of all, Kyrgyzstan,” the expert said.
“Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s joining the Customs Union is still undecided and not because of the ongoing political instability in the country,” said Mullojonov, “One of the main reasons is Kyrgyzstan’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). As member of WTO, Kyrgyzstan needs a long complex process of coordination with other member nations of the Customs Union.”
According to him, Russia and especially Kazakhstan fear that Kyrgyzstan’s joining the Customs Union will open way for Chinese cheap consumer goods to their markets that will undermine their own production and the idea and the essence of the Customs Union itself.
“Official Dushanbe must thoroughly weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of joining the Customs Union and other similar associations like the World Trade Organization,” Mullojonov said.
“It is known, for example, that WTO bans its member nations from demanding that foreign investors hire local workers. It means that any investor, for example, from China tomorrow may bring Chinese workers to its enterprises here as many as it wants,” said the expert, “And it will practically be impossible for our country to quit such customs and trade organizations unions, because the procedure of withdrawal from such unions is very complex and includes payments of considerable penal fees.”
Besides, joining the post-Soviet Customs Union will practically mean the closure of southern directions for Tajikistan. “We will have to create new customs barriers with our neighbors out of the CIS area,” the political scientist stressed.
We will recall that the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) Customs Union became a top priority since spring 2008. A supranational body of the customs union–the EAEC Customs Union Commission —
was established on December 12, 2008. Boiled down to its essence, Russia has offered EAEC members access to its markets (i.e., for Kazakhstan) and lower energy prices (i.e., Belarus, Ukraine).
The Customs Union members–Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia–reached an agreement on a unified customs tariff in June 2009 and endorsed a schedule for creating a unified customs territory. The Russian, Kazakh, and Belarusian leaders have approved documents to establish a “common economic space” on January 1, 2012 – a single market for goods, investment, and labor.
