EAEU Collegium Decision No. 137 / Council Decision No. 13: zero import duty on leather-footwear industry chemical inputs (2026-2028)

Mechanism

This is a narrow, technical tariff-liberalisation move rather than a headline industrial-policy announcement: the EEC restructured five HS codes for industrial chemical inputs (magnesium oxide 2519.90, paints 3209.90, leather/textile-treatment preparations 3402.90/3403.11/3403.91, SBS block copolymer 4002.19) by splitting off a leather-footwear-specific sub-code from the general-use code, then zero-rating the new leather-footwear sub-codes (import-duty note "109С") for a three-year window (through 31 December 2028) while the general-use codes keep their standard 5-6.5% Common Customs Tariff rate. Two instruments were needed: the Collegium (technical/administrative tier) Decision No. 137 creates the code split and rate table; the Council (ministerial tier) Decision No. 13 amends the underlying TN VED/CCT schedule those codes sit inside. Neither takes effect without the other — both entered into force together on 8 March 2026, ten calendar days after Decision No. 13's 26 February 2026 official publication.

Downstream implications

• Lowers landed input costs for leather-tanning and footwear-component

manufacturers across all five EAEU states by the full 5-6.5% duty differential on these five chemical-input lines, through end-2028.

• Textbook EAEU industrial-policy mechanism: rather than a direct

subsidy, the bloc narrows tariff-line definitions to carve out duty-free treatment for a single end-use industry without touching the tariff paid by other importers of the same base chemical.

• Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia (named as implementers in GTA's

tracking) have the most import-dependent leather/footwear processing bases within the bloc; Russia and Kyrgyzstan are also covered as EAEU members even though GTA's implementer list did not name them explicitly.

Open questions

• Whether the exemption is renewed or allowed to lapse at the

31 December 2028 sunset — worth a queue check in early/mid 2028.

• Scale of the affected annual import volume/value was not disclosed in

any source reviewed; if the EEC or a member-state customs authority later publishes an impact estimate, file as an amendment with severity_basis: quant refinement.