Assessing the Institutional Framework for Russia’s Foreign Trade Cooperation with North African Countries: Foreign Trade and Customs Aspects

Abstract

The paper examines the formation of the institutional framework of foreign trade and customs cooperation of EAEU member countries with the North African countries. Priority countries for foreign trade and customs cooperation were identified based on the ranking of the attractiveness of foreign markets for Russian exports of non-energy commodities (including indicators such as imports from Russia, trade complementarity, import growth rate, ease of imports, and transport accessibility). The authors analyzed customs and tariff regulations in the Russian industrial zone in the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Based on the analysis of the current state of the contractual legal framework between these countries, the authors propose directions for further improvement in the field of customs regulation of foreign trade cooperation. In particular, it is proposed to expand Russia’s zone of cooperation with Egypt to other North African countries. In particular, it is proposed to form an institutional structure for the pre-shipment inspection of all foreign trade cargoes.