OREANDA-NEWS. April 21, 2011. The Belarusian Agriculture Ministry and Russian national association of dairy producers SOUZMOLOKO have agreed common rules of the game on the Customs Union market, the Belarusian ministry said in a statement.

The Belarusian side supported the initiative of SOYUZMOLOKO to increase import duties on some dairy products, the ministry said, adding that the issue would be addressed at the next session of the Customs Union Commission.

Belarus and SOYUZMOLOKO will identify the list of companies authorized to sell milk and dairy products in the Customs Union.

The Belarusian ministry and SOYUZMOLOKO also reached the agreement that Moscow interbank currency exchange and Belarusian universal commodity exchange would work out a mechanism to provide authorized companies with access to exchange trading at the National commodity exchange of Russia.

Belarus and Russia also agreed to establish a united Russian-Belarusian company to process and sell milk in the CIS with a view to improving the quality of milk and dairy products. Sales are projected to reach 1 million tonnes annually.