Anatol Shumchanka was arrested in Minsk

The leader of a business association “Perspective” got arrested on June 27 as market vendors in Belarus are on a one-day strike against introduction of new certification rules within Customs Union.

Let us recall that thousands of small business owners with sole entrepreneur status in Minsk, Mahilou, Homel, Brest, Polatsk, Kastsyukovichy, and Baranavičy are known to have gone on strike at the suggestion of «Perspective”.

Approved by the Commission of the Customs Union and scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2013, the new certification rules prohibit the sale of clothes and footwear without a special label confirming their compliance with the Customs Union`s safety standards. The sellers will be required to submit samples of their goods to laboratories for testing and pay the certification costs.

Small business owners across Belarus have condemned the rules as unfair, stressed that manufacturers and not sellers should pay the costs and expressed readiness to shut up shop, stop paying taxes and stage large-scale protests starting July 1 if their demands are ignored.

The Belarusian government announced last week that it would adopt a directive delaying the introduction of the rules by one year.

Speaking on the sidelines of a business forum in Minsk on Monday, Andrei Polozkov, of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Department for Technical Regulation and Accreditation, warned that the directive would be illegal. If Minsk wants the introduction of the rules to be postponed, it should write to the Eurasian Economic Commission, detailing its arguments, he said.

As of evening on June, 27 three journalists arrested have been released, while Anatol Shumchanka remains in custody, BelaPAN reports. According to the information provided by his wife, Volha Shumchanka, he got a five-day arrest, though she admits that this information is not official.