Customs has strengthened control of goods imported from abroad

Some goods and equipment from the USA may become more expensive. Customs has strengthened control over goods imported into Russia from abroad. Now they are re-checking their origin. If customs discovers that the product was manufactured in the United States, or the carrier does not have documents confirming the country of origin, the duty on such shipment will be assessed at an increased rate. Instead of the usual 3-5%, the importer has to pay from 25% to 40% of the cost. Several importing companies told Vedomosti about the mass inspections. The trend was confirmed in Business Russia.

A thorough search for American goods at the border has only now begun, although the rule on increased fees was adopted six years ago, said Sergei Smirnov, adviser to the Moscow bar association Aronov and Partners: “Increased rates have not only begun to be applied now. The government decree has been in effect since 2018. That is, in the customs declaration there is a column “Country of departure of the goods”, and there is a “Country of origin of the goods”, that is, where the products were actually produced.

But a government decree established import customs duty rates for a number of goods whose country of origin is the United States. The country of origin is in any case established by the certificate of conformity, because the customs duty rate depends on this. In addition, this can be established, for example, during a customs inspection or examination. An independent audit can be carried out to confirm the country of origin of the goods.”

Increased rates are established for goods from the USA with certain codes according to the classifier. These groups include products made primarily from metal: in particular, construction machinery, equipment and working tools. The result of tightening control will be an increase in prices for the end consumer, explained Vladislav Varshavsky, managing partner of the law firm Varshavsky and Partners: “There are two options for confirming the country of origin. The first is a certificate of a strictly established form. And the second is a declaration of confirmation of the country of origin. If a certificate is a strictly established form that clearly states what should be executed and how, then a declaration is a fairly free document.

Often, commercial documents are used as a declaration, for example, an invoice or specification, which simply states that the country of origin of the goods is China or Turkey. Now the rule is that this is confirmed only by a certificate; there is no other way to confirm it. As a matter of fact, this is where all the questions from the customs authority arise.

In fact, this affects the list specified in the government decree – technological goods, industrial equipment. But the list is very large. Often the opportunity depends not only on the fact that the importer does not want to confirm the country of origin of the goods. Sometimes a foreign partner says that there is a certificate from the USA, but we cannot attach it or issue our own due to restrictions of national legislation.

Technically this cannot be done. What should the importer do in this situation? Either refuse to work in this area and not engage in standard and understandable activities, or pay increased import customs duties and shift this onto the shoulders of the end consumer in Russia. There is no other option here.”

Lawyers specializing in customs law do not rule out that the tightening of checks may be related to the payment collection plan, Vedomosti writes. In 2023, the Federal Customs Service transferred 6.6 trillion rubles to the budget, exceeding the plan by almost 160 billion rubles. In 2024, the planned service indicator is even higher – by 14%. Customs officers are expected to replenish the budget by 7.5 trillion rubles.

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