Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to
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Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will adopt new unified customs tariff and non-tariff regulations from January 1, 2010, and the Customs Union (the “CU”) of the three countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (the “EurAsEC”) will become a reality. The CU Customs Code (the “Customs Code”) is expected to take effect from July 1, 2010 to regulate the resulting integral customs zone.
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On 6 August 2009, the President of the Republic of Belarus signed Decree No. 10 On the Creation of Additional Conditions for Investing in Belarus. An investment contract is one of the ways of investing in the Republic of Belarus and enables an investor to obtain State support for an investment project and a waiver of sovereign immunity from suits, cautionary judgments, and enforcement of judgments and/or arbitration awards. Decree No. 10 introduces a new procedure for entering into investment contracts. It allows investors to be granted preferences and privileges under investment contracts, in addition to those granted under existing legislation, and also regulates the privileges to be granted to investors automatically upon execution of investment contracts.
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On July 15, 2009 Belarus passed the Law on the Introduction of Amendments to the Law of Republic of Belarus on Trademarks and Service Marks, which comes into force on January 25, 2010. The rationale behind the amendments is to bring Belarusian law in line with European countries’ laws - to facilitate eventual accession of the country to the WTO, and also to reflect new developments in case law.