The Customs Code of the Customs Union (CU Customs Code) entered into force on 1 July 2010 – for Russia and Kazakhstan and on 6 July 2010 – also for Belarus.
The CU Customs Code is in line with the provisions of the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures (Kyoto Convention).
Customs procedures under the Customs Code of the Customs Union
The list of customs (clearance) procedures (17 in total) is set out by Article 202 of the CU CC:
- Release of goods for internal consumption;
- Export;
- Customs transit;
- Customs warehousing;
- Processing within the customs territory;
- Processing outside the customs territory;
- Processing for internal consumption;
- Temporary import (admission);
- Temporary export;
- Re-import;
- Re-export;
- Duty free sale;
- Destruction;
- Surrender of goods in favour of the state;
- Placement into a free customs zone;
- Free warehousing;
- Special customs procedure (customs procedure determining special conditions of use or disposal of goods within or outside the CU territory).
The national residency principle
Transitional provisions of the CU Customs Code contain the rule of declaring goods in accordance with the “national residency principle”. This principle is set out in Article 368 of the CU Customs Code. It states that until the relevant decision of the International Council of the EuroAsian Economic Union (EurAsEC) is adopted, customs declarations are to be submitted to the customs authorities of the country where the person (legal or physical) making the declaration is registered or is residing. This means that, for example, all Russian organizations and private persons will have to obtain clearance for their goods only to Russian customs authorities. This is due to the fact that only customs legislation is being unified within the CU countries, and the other areas of law (e.g. banking, tax or civil) will remain national.
This requirement is to remain in force until an international agreement is adopted permitting declarants to submit a customs declaration to any CU customs body.
Clearance procedure
The law provides for a number of customs operations which are to be performed when goods enter the territory of the CU and their placement into temporary storage in at the point of entry or their transit (according to the established transit procedure) to the customs body where their clearance is to take place, depending on the customs clearance procedure chosen by the declarer of the goods.
During export, goods are to be cleared in accordance with the existing export procedure. Customs operations connected with the export are to be performed at the point of removal of the goods outside the customs territory of the CU.
Foreign goods imported into any CU country and placed under the customs clearance procedure (aimed at releasing the goods into the internal market of the CU countries for free circulation and granting them the status of “CU goods”), may be freely distributed within the whole CU territory. The same right is granted (as from 1 July 2010) to all goods originating from the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan as well as to the goods which are considered“local” in the CU countries.
This exempts all goods in relation to which any Customs Union country applies import duties which are less than import duties set out by the Common Customs Tariffs. This applies, for example, to 409 types of goods in relation to which lower import duties are to be applied in Kazakhstan (until 1 July 2011) in comparison with the duties set out by the Common Customs Tariffs. Those goods are to be considered “conditionally released” and may be used only within the importing CU country. In case they are removed into the territory of any other CU country, the underpaid amount of import duties is to be compensated.
Transit
The CU Customs Code sets out the unified customs transit procedure which will no longer be separated into internal customs transit (i.e. only through the territory of Russia) and international transit, which significantly simplifies the transit procedure.
General provisions on the customs clearance of goods, depending on the chosen customs clearance procedure, are provided in Chapter 27 of the CU Customs Code. They also apply to the transit procedure. Transit declaration is one of the forms of a customs clearance declaration.
Transport (shipment), commercial and/or other documents, including documents specified by international agreements (e.g. TIR carnets and accompanying documents) may be used as transit declarations. The information which is to be specified in a transit declaration has not undergone significant changes apart from the following:
– A transit declaration must contain the code of the goods in accordance with the Goods Nomenclature of the Customs Union, at least the first six digits (and no longer the first four digits as was required by the Customs Code of the Russian Federation) and the information on the documents confirming compliance with the restrictions applicable during the movement of goods through the customs border, provided that this movement is only possible if such documents are available;
– It is no longer required to provide certain information in a transit declaration (e.g. the information on the drivers of transport vehicles or on the duration of the customs transit period).
The submission of a transit declaration to the customs authorities must also include the submission of its electronic copy. Previously this was the right of the declarer and not an obligation.
The role of a declarer (i.e. the person granted the right for the customs transit of goods) in a transit procedure may be performed not only by the transporter or the forwarding agent (provided that the agent is a CU person) of the goods in question but also by a CU person who is a party to an international commercial transaction or a person with the right to use or dispose of the goods.
Customs transit is defined (in Article 215 of the CU Customs Code) as a customs procedure, pursuant to which goods are transported under the customs supervision, through the territory of the Customs Union, including transportation through the territory of a country which is not a CU member state, from the customs body at the point of arrival to the customs body at the point of departure, without an obligation to pay customs duties or taxes but subject to applicable restrictions and prohibitions, excluding requirements contained in non-tariff regulations and technical regulations.
Customs transit procedure is to be applied when:
– Foreign goods are shipped from the customs body at the point of arrival to the customs body at the point of departure of the goods;
– Foreign goods are shipped from the customs body at the point of arrival to an internal customs body;
– Foreign or CU goods are shipped from an internal customs body to the customs body at the point of departure (subject to the provision that goods which placed under the customs export procedure are to be transported through the CU territory without being placed under customs transit procedure unless such a placement is required by the CU Customs Code or a CU Commission decision);
– Foreign goods are shipped from one internal customs body to another internal customs body;
– CU goods are shipped from a customs body at the point of departure to a customs body at the point of arrival through the territory of a country which is not a CU member state.
Goods may be placed under the customs transit procedure if the following conditions have been complied with:
– The goods are not prohibited from import into the CU territory or export from the CU territory;
– Documents have been presented for the goods, confirming that all applicable import/export restrictions have been complied with and provided that such import/export is permitted if those documents are available;
– All required border control and other state control measures have been performed on the goods at the point of arrival (if those measures are required);
– The transit declaration is presented;
– The measures aimed at ensuring that the transit procedure has been complied with (these measures are payment of customs duties and taxes, customs convoy and route setting);
– The goods have been identified (according to Article 109 of the CU CC);
– The transport vehicle has been duly equipped (if the goods are transported in sealed trucks/containers).
The conditions for placement of goods under the customs transit procedure have not been changed in comparison with the provisions of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation. However, the route setting measure may now only be applied as a measure which is additional to customs convoy and payment of duties. Routes are to be set by the customs body of shipment on the basis of information provided in transport (shipment) documents and may only be changed if such a change has been agreed with the customs body of departure or any customs body located on the route.
The customs authorities will not require a payment of customs duties and taxes during transit, if:
– The declarer is a customs transporter or an authorized economic operator;
– The goods are transported via railway, pipeline or by electric cables;
– The payment is not required by an international agreement;
– The goods are transported under the customs convoy;
– In other cases set out by the Customs Code and/or international treaties of the CU member states.
Release of Goods
Regulated by Articles 195 – 201 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union.
Goods are to be released by the customs authorities for free circulation if the following conditions have been complied with:
– The interested persons have presented to the customs authorities all licences, certificates, permits and/or other documents required for the release of goods according to the CU CC provisions, except where pursuant to the national law of a CU member state those documents may be presented after the release of the goods;
– The persons interested in the release of the goods have complied with the necessary requirements and conditions required for the placement of the goods under a specific (chosen) customs procedure; and
– All customs taxes and duties for the goods have been paid or their payment has been warranted.
The customs declaration for imported goods must be presented before the expiration of the temporary storage period (which must not exceed four months).
The customs authorities may refuse to release the goods for free circulation is the declarer does not comply with the conditions of the release of goods set out in the CU CC (e.g. does not present all required documents). In this case the declarer may either submit another declaration or eliminate the causes of refusal or claim another customs procedure which would enable the customs authorities to release the goods.