Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Ihor Kaletnik has met with the heads of the customs services of Russia and Belarus, Andrei Belyaninov and Alexander Shpilevsky, the press service of the Ukrainian State Customs Service has reported.

The sides signed a number of agreements on cooperation, in particular, a protocol between the customs services of Ukraine and Belarus on exchange of information within the risk management system. The document was developed in order to reduce the time of holding and creating conditions for the simplification of the customs control of goods and vehicles moved through the customs border of the two countries.

In addition, the sides approved a plan of practical activities between the customs bodies of Belarus and Ukraine in the law enforcement sphere for 2012.

The parties also signed a joint action plan to combat customs offenses between the customs services of Ukraine and Russia for 2012-2013, and a protocol between the law enforcement units of Ukraine's State Customs Service and the Russian Federal Customs Service on exchange of information on violations committed on the Ukrainian-Russian border.

The press service also reported that trade between Belarus and Ukraine in the first ten months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010 grew by 39%, to USD 4.9 billion.

Ukrinform