Eurasian Economic Union Reaches Agreement on Unified E-Commerce

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has reached an agreement on a draft document regarding e-commerce in goods within the EAEU territory which sets unified requirements for the operations of EAEU marketplaces. The EAEU includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia and fits the geographic space between Eastern Europe and Western China. It has a population of 183 million and a GDP of US$2.4 trillion.

The agreement stipulates that both physical and digital goods as well as services related to e-commerce will be freely moved and provided within the EAEU, and member states will not impose any tariff-based, non-tariff or other restrictions on sellers of goods and marketplaces that are not outlined in the union’s treaty. At the same time, marketplaces must not create discriminatory conditions for sellers and buyers from other EAEU countries.

Andrei Slepnev, the EAEU’s Minister for Trade said that “The main goal of the agreement is to reduce the risks of barriers to the free movement of e-commerce goods due to the absence of a comprehensive union-wide law in this area and the active development of national legal frameworks in the member states.”

It is expected that EAEU countries will approve a set of supranational rules as part of the agreement. Public offers, product cards, order information and returns of goods and money will be processed according to general rules. It is anticipated that sellers and marketplaces will be able to standardize their business processes on a unified platform.

Consumer rights protection in e-commerce will be implemented in accordance with the legislation of the country where the consumer is located, while a unified regulation will be introduced for the EAEU regarding the return period of goods, which will be set at within 14 days.

The agreement will also include measures to limit spam mailings, mandatory protection of personal data, and provide tools for pre-trial dispute resolution based on associations of professional market participants and societies for protecting consumer rights.

The e-commerce market volume in the EAEU is worth about US$82 billion, and this figure will grow by 30% to reach about US$110 billion by 2030, according to Slepnev, who said “Currently, the total share of e-commerce in EAEU retail is about 13%, but there is steady growth. By 2030, we forecast growth up to 30%.”

There are 78 million regular retail internet users in the EAEU. Synchronising E-Commerce regulations amongst EAEU countries is likely to provide a significant boost to intra-EAEU multilateral trade.