Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he signed the law on ratification of the treaty creating the Eurasian Economic Union.
The head of state announced the signing at a meeting with government members.
“I have signed a federal law on ratification of the Eurasian Economic Union treaty,” he told the government. “This is a major milestone in our joint work on integration with our closest partners and allies,” he said.
“I remember how we started this work,” Putin added, as he turned the floor over to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who also had worked on the project.
Shuvalov noted that Russia in that way completed its part of the ratification procedure.
The move follows lower house ratification on September 26 and the upper house ratification on October 1.
The Eurasian Economic Union, which envisages free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce and is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, will become operational from January 1, 2015.
The treaty to create the union was signed by presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus Vladimir Putin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Alexander Lukashenko in Astana on May 29.
The agreement is the basic document defining the accords between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for creating the EEU for free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce and conducting coordinated, agreed or common policies in key sectors of the economy, such as energy, industry, agriculture and transport.
It stipulates transition of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to the next stage of integration after the Customs Union and the common economic space.
The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union stipulates customs and technical regulation, foreign trade policies and measures to protect the internal market. The agreement envisages transition to common customs tariffs.
The agreement also stipulates principles of coordinated macro-economic and foreign exchange policies, financial market regulation, interaction in the energy and transport sectors, development of a common gas, oil, petroleum product, medicines and medical equipment market.
The treaty’s provisions also cover such areas as intellectual property and state purchases, industry, agriculture and labor migration. The document also regulates informational interaction within the union.
The document defines the Russian language as the union’s working language. The treaty also stipulates that the Eurasian Commission will be headquartered in Moscow, the Eurasian Economic Union Court in Minsk and the financial regulator in Almaty.
The document says that the union is open for accession by any state sharing the union’s goals and principles on the terms agreed by the member countries. The document stipulates a 10-year period for the union’s member states to fully harmonize their national legislatures.
Belarus is set to ratify the treaty on October 7.