THE CUSTOMS CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
PART III.
CUSTOMS PAYMENTS
Article 318. Customs Payments and their Categories
1. Customs payments include:
[1] import duties;
[2] export duties
[3] value-added tax levied on the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
[4] excise tax levied on the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation;
[5] customs fees.
2. Customs duties shall be levied in those instances stipulated by the law of the Russian Federation.
3. Special antidumping and compensational duties stipulated by the Federal Law on Measures for Protecting Economic Interests of the Russian Federation in Foreign Trade Operations with Goods and Commodities are levied in accordance with this Customs Code with regard to import duties.
Article 319. Commencement and Termination of Responsibility with regard to Payment of Customs Duties and Taxes. Instances When Customs Duties and Taxes Are Not Disbursed
1. Responsibility for the payment of customs duties and taxes on the goods conveyed across the customs border shall commence:
[1] in the instance of importation, from the moment of goods crossing the customs border;
[2] in the instance of exportation, from the moment of submission of a customs declaration or other activities with a direct intent to export goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation.
2. Customs duties and taxes shall not be levied on goods, provided:
[1] in accordance with law of the Russian Federation or this Customs Code:
- the goods are exempt from customs duties and taxes;
- the goods have been accorded complete conditional exemption from customs duties and taxes. Customs duties and taxes shall not be levied on such goods throughout the period of validity of said exemption provided the terms and conditions stipulating said exemption are observed.
[2] the overall customs value of the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation within a single week addressed to the same recipient does not exceed 5,000.00 roubles;
[3] prior to the goods release for free circulation and in the absence of any violations by persons of the terms and conditions stipulated by this Customs Code, foreign goods were destroyed or irretrievably lost as a result of an accident or force majeure, or as a result of their natural wear or diminution under normal conditions of their haulage, storage and utilization (operation);
[4] goods are converted to federal property in accordance with this Customs Code and other federal statutes.
3. Responsibility for disbursement of customs duties and taxes for the goods released for free circulation in the customs territory of the Russian Federation or exported from said territory is terminated in the instances stipulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Article 320. Persons Responsible for Customs Payments
1. Responsibility for the disbursement of customs duties and taxes shall be vested in the declarant. In case the goods are declared by a customs broker (agent), the latter shall be responsible for the disbursement of all dutiable payments as per Item 2 of Article 144 of this Customs Code.
2. In the instance of non-observance of the provisions stipulated by this Customs Code with regard to the use and disposal or goods, or observance of other terms and conditions stipulated by this Customs Code with regard to the application of customs procedures envisaging partial or compete exemption of goods from customs duties and taxes, responsibility for the disbursement of customs duties and taxes in the instances, which are directly stipulated by this Customs Code, shall be the owner of a temporary-storage warehouse, the owner of a bonded warehouse, the carrier, the persons obliged to ensure the observance of the terms and conditions of specific customs procedures.
3. In the instance of non-payment of customs duties and taxes, as well as in case of their incorrect calculation and/or delayed payment, the person responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes shall be answerable to the customs authorities.
4. In case of the illegal exportation of goods and means of transport across the customs border, jointly responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes levied on to goods and means of transport shall be the persons who have illegally conveyed the goods and means of transport across the border, as well as the persons who have participated in said conveyance if they were aware or were supposed to be aware of the illegal nature of said conveyance; in the instance of illegal importation, responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes levied on to goods and means of transport shall be the persons who have owned or come in possession of the illegally imported goods and means of transport if at the time of the purchasing transaction they were aware, or were supposed to be aware of the illegal nature of said importation, which fact was duly certified by the procedures stipulated by law of the Russian Federation. Said persons shall also be responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes equivalent to those payable by the declarant of the illegally imported or exported goods.
Article 321. Restrictions to Overall Amount Dutiable Payments Levied on Goods Imported to the Customs Territory of the Russian Federation
The overall amount of customs duties and taxes levied on the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation should not exceed the amount of customs duties and taxes payable for the same goods at the instance of their importation to the customs territory of the Russian Federation for their release for free circulation exempt from any penalty fees and/or interests, except in the instance of an increase of the overall amount of the payable customs duties and taxes due to the change of rates of customs duties and taxes when applied to the goods are the rates of customs duties and taxes which were effective on the day of acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration stating the changed of the goods customs procedure. In such situations, the amount of customs duties and taxes disbursed under the preceding customs procedure shall be taken into account during the payment of customs duties and taxes stipulated by the terms and conditions of the newly selected customs procedure.
Article 322. Subject to Customs Duties, Taxes
Subject to customs duties and taxes shall be the goods conveyed across the customs border. defined by the Russian legislation on taxes and duties and by this Code. The taxable basis of customs duties and taxes comprises the goods customs value and/or their quantity.
Article 323. General Provisions for Defining and Declaring Goods Customs Value
1. The goods customs value is determined by the declarant in accordance with the methods of appraising customs value approved by law of the Russian Federation; the customs value determined thereby shall be stated to customs authorities at the instance of goods declaration.
2. The customs value stated by the declarant and the factual details used for appraising the goods customs value furnished by the declarant ought to be based on authentic documentarily certified information.
3. The customs authorities verify the goods declared customs value based on the procedures approved by the Federal Customs Authority pursuant to the provisions on this Customs Code.
Based on the documents and details furnished by the declarant and with consideration of the reference information at the disposal of said customs office which is used for appraising the goods customs value, the customs authorities will evaluate the method chosen by the declarant for appraising the goods customs value, as well as the accuracy of the goods customs value stated by the declarant.
4. In case the customs authorities deem insufficient the documents and information furnished by declarant for passing a resolution with regard to the stated goods customs value, the customs office concerned makes a written request to the declarant asking him (or her) to provide additional documents and details pertaining to said goods, and designate the time limit for their submission.
In order to prove the correctness of the stated goods value, the declarant should be obliged, on the request issued by the customs authorities, to furnish all the necessary additional documents and details or submit a formal written explanation stating the reasons preventing him (or her) from furnishing to the customs authorities the required documents and details. The declarant has the right to substantiate the correctness of the selected method of appraising the goods customs value and prove the authenticity of the information furnished to the customs authorities.
5. In the absence of facts proving the correctness of the goods customs value stated by the declarant or when the customs authorities have discovered evidence that the documents and the information submitted by the declarant are inauthentic or insufficient, the customs office has the right to take a decision to disapprove of the method chosen by the declarant for appraising the goods customs value and recommend that the declarant apply a different method for appraising the goods customs value. In this situation, the customs authorities and the declarant may hold consultations with regard to the method applicable for appraising the goods customs value.
6. If the goods customs value has not been determined within the time terms prescribed for the goods release (Article 152), said goods will be released against the declarant’s guarantee to disburse the dutiable payments that may be additionally levied on said goods. The customs office issues a written notification to the declarant informing him (or her) of the required guarantee of dutiable payments. No additional guarantee of dutiable payments will be required in the instance of exported stock-exchange commodities whose sale price remains unknown on the date of customs registration formalities.
7. In case the declarant failed to present requisite additional facts and documents requested by the customs authorities within the time limits prescribed by the customs office, or if the customs authorities have discovered evidence that the documents and the information submitted by the declarant are not authentic and/or sufficient, or if the declarant refused to determine the goods customs value by using another method recommended by the customs authorities, the customs office will determines the goods customs value on its own by way of consecutive application of the available methods of appraising goods customs value. The customs office shall be obliged to inform the declarant in writing of the decision taken with regard to the goods customs value not later than on the day following the day when said decision is made. In the instance when the customs office has determined the goods customs value following the goods release, the customs authorities will issue an invoice for customs payments (Article 350) in case additional redemption of customs duties and taxes is required. Settlement of the additionally charged amounts of customs duties and taxes should be completed within ten working days from the day when said invoice is received. If the additional amounts of customs duties and taxes are settled within the prescribed time limits, they shall be exempt from any penalty fees.
Article 324. Customs Duties and Taxes Calculation Procedure
1. Customs duties and taxes are calculated by the declarant or the other persons responsible for dutiable payments independently, except the instances stipulated by Item 3 of Article 295 of this Customs Code and Item 2 herein.
2. When an invoice for dutiable payments is issued as per Article 350 of this Customs Code, calculation of the customs duties and taxes is effected by the customs office concerned.
3. Calculations of the payable amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be made in using the legal tender of the Russian Federation.
Article 325. Application of Rates of Customs Duties and Taxes
1. Customs duties and taxes are calculated based on the rates effective on the day of acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration, except the instance stipulated by Articles 150, 312, and Item 1 of Article 327 of this Customs Code.
2. Calculation of customs duties and taxes are based on the rates corresponding to the name and classification code of the goods and commodities stipulated by the Customs Tariff of the Russian Federation and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, except the instances stipulated by the second paragraph herein, as well as the instances stipulated by Article 282 of this Customs Code pertaining to the application of general rates of customs duties and taxes to the goods conveyed across the customs border by natural persons for their personal use.
3. In the instance of declaring several names of goods under the same classification code, as per the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade, as per Article 128 of this Customs Code, such goods shall be liable for the customs duties and taxes corresponding to this classification code.
Article 326. Recalculation of Foreign Currency for Determining Customs Duties and Taxes
In the instances when calculation of customs duties and taxes, including appraisal of goods customs value, involves foreign currency, conversion of said foreign currency into the legal tender of the Russian Federation shall be based on the exchange rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for accounting and customs payments purposes effective on the day of acceptance of the customs declaration.
Article 327. Calculation of Customs Duties and Taxes Levied on Goods Illegally Conveyed across Customs Border or Use of Goods in Breach of Established Restrictions
1. The amounts of customs duties and taxes levied on goods which have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in breach of the terms and conditions stipulated by this Customs Code and for which due customs duties and taxes remain unpaid, shall be calculated based on the rates of customs duties and taxes effective on the day of crossing the customs border or on the day when said goods were discovered by the customs authorities if the date of the goods border crossing cannot be established. In case of loss, non-delivery or release without authorization by the customs authorities of the goods which were hauled subject to the domestic customs transit or stored under the temporary-storage procedure, the amounts of dutiable payments shall be calculated based on the using the rates effective for the date of when said goods were placed under the conformable customs procedure.
In case of the goods illegal export from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, the amounts of dutiable payments shall be calculated based on the rates of customs duties and taxes, effective on the day of the goods conveyance across the Customs border, or on the first day of the month or on the first day of the first month of the year within which said goods were exported if the date of the goods border crossing cannot be established.
2. The customs duties and taxes levied on the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation shall be calculated based on the goods customs value, their quantity or other characteristics, which were used for determining the goods tax basis, on the day of application of the customs duties and taxes pursuant to Item 1 herein. In case the sum of dutiable payments cannot be established due to non-submission to the customs office of accurate information on the goods nature, names, descriptions, quantities, countries of origin, and customs values, the amount of dutiable payments will be determined proceeding from the highest rates of customs duties, taxes, quantities and customs values of the goods which may be determined based on the available information. In case precise information on said goods is established within one year from the date of disbursement of dutiable payments and release of goods, the excessively paid amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be reimbursed, and underpaid amounts, charged on the released goods in accordance with this Section.
Deductible from the paid amount of customs duties and taxes levied on the goods, which have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation, shall be the valued-added tax (VAT) charged during the goods circulation in the amount certified by the documents used for calculating the VAT pursuant to the Russian legislation on taxes and duties.
3. If the goods, which have been conditionally released, are used for the purposes other than those that served as the reason for their complete or partial exemption from customs duties and taxes, such goods shall be liable for the rates of customs duties and taxes effective on the day of acceptance of the customs declaration by the customs authorities. The customs value of the goods, their quantity, or other characteristics, which were used for determining the goods tax basis, shall be determined as on the day of application of customs duties and taxes.
Article 328. Payers of Customs Duties and Taxes
1. Payers of customs duties and taxes may be goods declarants and any other persons responsible for disbursement of customs duties and taxes pursuant to this Customs Code.
2. Every person has the right to pay customs duties and taxes levied on the goods conveyed across the customs border.
Article 329. Terms of Payments of Customs Duties and Taxes
1. In the instance of goods importation, import duties and taxes should be disbursed not later than within fifteen days from the day said goods were presented to the customs authorities for inspection at the point of entry to the customs territory of the Russian Federation or within fifteen days from the day of completion of the goods domestic customs transit procedure in case goods were not declared at their point of entry.
2. In the instance of goods exportation, export duties and taxes should be disbursed not later than on the day of submission of a customs declaration unless this Customs Code contains other provisions hereto.
3. In the instance of change of the goods customs procedure, customs duties and taxes should be disbursed not later than on the day stipulated by this Customs Code for the completion of the changed customs procedure.
4. In case conditionally released goods are used for the purposes other than those stated as the reason for the customs privileges and exemptions for the purpose of calculation of requisite penalty fees (Article 349) the date of disbursement of the customs duties and taxes shall be the first day when the person responsible for said goods breached the restrictions stipulating the goods use and disposal. In case such date cannot be established, the date of payment of customs duties and taxes shall be the day of acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration pertaining to said goods.
5. In case of violation of the terms and conditions stipulated by specific customs procedures applied to the goods, which violation pursuant to this Customs Code entails the declarant’s responsibility for payment of customs duties and taxes, the date of disbursement of the customs duties and taxes for the purpose of calculation of requisite penalty fees shall be the day when said terms and conditions were breached. In case such date cannot be established, the date of payment of customs duties and taxes shall be the day of commencement of the respective customs procedure.
6. This Customs Code stipulates the terms of payment of customs duties and taxes levied on the goods conveyed across the customs border by natural persons for personal use, on the goods dispatched by international mail, on the commodities conveyed through pipeline transport and electric power lines, on the goods imported with partial conditional exemption from customs duties and taxes, and on the illegally imported goods and commodities discovered in possession of their buyers (organisations involved in wholesale and retail sale operations with imported goods and commodities) in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Article 330. Advance Payment
1. An advance payment is defined as the money placed in the bank account of the customs office concerned in terms of forthcoming customs payments. Advance payments are not identified by the payers as any specific kinds of dutiable payments with regard to any specific goods or commodities.
2. An advance payment may be disbursed to the cashier’s desk or placed in the bank account of the customs office concerned in the currency of the Russian Federation or in foreign currency in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation on Currency Regulations and Currency Control.
3. The amount of an advance payment received by the customs authorities constitutes the property of its payer and it cannot be regarded as customs payments until said person issues an explicit instruction in that regard to the customs office concerned, or the customs office levies its charges on the person’s advance payment pursuant to Article 353 of this Customs Code. The person who made said advance payment will instruct the customs office to use the advanced amount by submitting personally or having someone submit on his (or her) behalf a pertinent customs declaration or taking other measures indicative of his (or her) intention to use said moneys as dutiable payments.
4. Upon the payer’s request, the customs authorities shall be obliged to present a written report on the usage of the amount of the advanced payment within 30 days from the day of their receipt of such request. In case the payer disagrees with the results of the report furnished by the customs office concerned, the customs authorities and the payer conduct a joint verification of the use of the payer’s funds. The results of such verification shall be formalised as an act stipulated by the Federal Customs Authority. Said act is made in two copies signed by the customs authorities and the payer. Upon signing, one copy of the act is handed to the payer.
5. Redemption of advance payments shall be regulated by the rules stipulated by this Customs Code for redemption of customs duties and taxes (Chapter 33) provided an application for the refund is submitted within three years from the date when said finds were disbursed to the cashier’s desk or credited to the bank account of the customs office concerned.
Article 331. Procedure and Forms of Dutiable Payments
1. The customs duties and taxes shall be disbursed to the cashier’s desk or placed on the designated account of the customs office opened for such purpose in accordance with law of the Russian Federation, except the instances stipulated by Item 4 of Article 295 of this Customs Code.
2. Upon the payer’s preference, dutiable payments are made either in the currency of the Russian Federation or in the foreign currencies whose rate of exchange is quoted by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation pursuant to the Law of the Russian Federation on Currency Regulation and Currency Control.
3. Conversion of the currency of the Russian Federation into a foreign currency for the purpose of customs duties and taxes levied in the currency of the Russian Federation shall be based on the currency exchange rate effective on the day of acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration, or on the day when dutiable payments are disbursed, as in the instances when dutiable payments are predicated by the submission of a customs declaration.
4. Dutiable payments can be made in the form stipulated by law of the Russian Federation.
5. Upon a payer’s request, the customs office concerned shall be obliged to issue a written receipt certifying payment by said person of customs duties and taxes.
Article 332. Fulfilment of Obligation to Make Dutiable Payments
With consideration of the peculiarities stipulated by this Customs Code, a person’s responsibility for requisite dutiable payments shall be deemed fulfilled:
[1] from the moment when the necessary funds have been debited from the payer’s bank account;
[2] from the moment of disbursement of said funds in cash to the cashier’s desk of the customs office;
[3] from the moment when all excessively paid or excessively charged amounts of dutiable payments have been settled, or from the moment when the customs authorities accepted the payer’s request for such a settlement if said settlement was initiated by the payer;
[4] from the moment of receipt by the customs authorities of due customs duties and taxes, advance payments, or cash deposits, or from the moment when the customs authorities receive the payer’s instructions thereto if said payments or deposits were initiated by the payer;
[5] from the moment of receipt by the customs authorities of due customs duties and taxes or the funds, which are advanced by a bank or by another credit or insurance organisation owing to a bank guarantee or an insurance agreement, as well as receipt of the funds paid by the person acting on the payer’s behalf in accordance with a relevant guarantee agreement;
[6] from the moment of placement of a claim on the arrears with regard to the goods’ duties and taxes or the payer’s mortgaged or other property
if said funds comprise the amount exceeding that of the payer’s arrears of due customs duties and taxes.
Article 333. General Provisions for Changing the Terms of Dutiable Payments
1. Upon a written request made by the payer of customs duties and taxes, pursuant to the provisions stipulated by Article 334 of this Customs Code, the Federal Customs Authority or a customs office duly nominated by it may change the time limits for completing dutiable payments.
2. The time limits established for the payment of customs duties and taxes may be extended by deferral or payment by instalments.
3. A request for deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes may be denied by customs authorities based exclusively on the reasons stipulated by Article 335 of this Customs Code.
4. Deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes may be approved with regard to one or several categories of customs duties and taxes, as well as to the total dutiable amounts or part thereof.
5. Deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes may be approved provided the payer has guaranteed all dutiable payments as per Chapter 31 of this Customs Code. A decision with regard to deferral or payment of dutiable payments by instalments shall be approved within the time not exceeding 15 days from the day of submission of such a request.
6. Deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes may be approved for a period from one to six months.
7. A resolution issued by the customs authorities containing approval or denial of requested deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes shall be made in writing and forwarded to the applicant. Such resolution shall specify either the time limit of the deferral or payment by instalments of due customs duties and taxes or the reason for denial of any such deferral or payment by instalments of due customs duties and taxes.
Article 334. Provisions for Deferral or Payment by Instalments
Deferral or payment by instalments is approved for the payer of customs duties and taxes based on none of the following reasons:
[1] damage caused to the payer resulting from of a natural calamity or force major;
[2] delayed allocation of funds from the federal budget due to the payer or delayed compensation for a state order fulfilled by the payer;
[3] conveyance of perishable goods across the customs border;
[4] supplies effected by the payer pursuant to intergovernmental agreements.
Article 335. Circumstances Ruling Out Deferral or Payment by Instalments
1. Deferral or payment by instalments shall not be approved for a person in the following circumstances:
[1] the applicant is prosecuted for a crime associated with breach of the customs legislations of the Russian Federation;
[2] the applicant is sued for insolvency.
2. In the event of the circumstances stated in Item 1 herein, a resolution for deferral or payment for instalments may not be passed whereas a resolution, which has been passed to that effect under said circumstances, ought to be rescinded with a written notification of the person who applied for such deferral or payment by instalments within three working days.
Article 336. Interests Charged for Deferral or Payment by Instalments of Customs Duties and Taxes
1. The deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes as well as in other instances stipulated by Section 2 of Part II of this Customs Code shall be liable for an interest chargeable on the sum of the arrears for customs duties and taxes proceeding from the refinance rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation effective in the period of deferral or payment by instalments of due customs duties and taxes.
2. The interest is repaid prior to or concurrently with the disbursement of the sum of the arrears due for the customs duties and taxes, but not later than the day following the expiry date of the time limits approved for the deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes.
3. Payment, charge, and redemption of the interest shall be effected based on the provisions stipulated by this Customs Code for the payment, charge, and redemption of customs duties and taxes.
Article 337. General Provisions for Guarantees of Dutiable Payments
1. Guarantees of payments of customs duties and taxes shall be provided in the following instances:
[1] deferral or payment by instalments of customs duties and taxes;
[2] conditional release of goods;
[3] haulage or storage of foreign goods;
[4] other customs-related activities.
2. Guarantees of payments of customs duties and taxes shall not be required if the amount of customs duties, taxes, penalty fees, and interests due to be paid is below 20,000.00 roubles, as well as in the instances when the customs authorities have good reasons to believe that the commitments assumed before them shall be fulfilled.
3. If the same person performs several customs operations within a finite period of time, the customs office concerned shall be obliged to accept the person’s guarantees of payment of the customs duties and taxes required for effecting all such operations (the general guarantee). The customs authorities shall accept the general guarantee for the payment of customs duties and taxes due for customs operations in several customs offices provided said general guarantee might be used by any customs office in case of breach of the obligations secured by the general guarantee in accordance with this Customs Code.
4. The payment guarantee of customs duties and taxes shall be secured by the person responsible for their disbursement, or by any other person acting on behalf of the person responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes.
5. The funds disbursed as a security for the payment of customs duties and taxes are reimbursed not later than in three days after the customs office has verified the fulfilment of the secured obligations or upon termination of the activities which have been conducted based on a guarantee amount securing the payment of customs duties and taxes, with the exception of cash deposits which are refunded as per the provisions contained in Article 375 of this Customs Code.
Article 338. Guarantees of Dutiable Payments
1. The security amount guaranteeing the payment of customs duties and taxes is determined by the customs office concerned proceeding from the sums of dutiable payments and the interests payable at the instance of release of goods for free circulation or their exportation in accordance with the declared customs export procedure. The security amount may not exceed the above sums of dutiable payments.
2. In case the exact amount of customs duties and taxes required for determining the security amount for dutiable payments and interests cannot be established since the payer has failed to provide accurate information pertaining to the goods nature, their names and descriptions, their quantities, countries of origin and customs value, the customs authorities shall determine the security amount proceeding from the highest rates of customs duties and taxes, the highest goods value and/or their quantities which may be established based on of the information at the disposal of the customs authorities.
3. In the instance stipulated by Item 3 of Article 153 of this Customs Code the security amount guaranteeing payment of the customs duties and taxes due for the goods shall be determined by the customs office concerned as a difference between the sum of the customs duties and taxes that may be levied on said goods additionally in view of the requirements stipulated by Items 1 and 2 herein and the sum of paid customs duties and taxes.
4. The Federal Customs Authority has the right to designate a fixed security amount for guaranteeing dutiable payments with regard to specific categories of merchandise with consideration of the provisions stipulated by Items 1 and 2 herein.
Article 339. Security Amounts for Dutiable Payments Required of Persons Involved in Customs-Related Activities
1. A person’s activities in capacity of a customs broker, owner of a temporary storage warehouse, owner of a bonded warehouse, and/or customs carrier shall said person’s stipulates security for guaranteeing requisite dutiable payments.
2. Such security amounts guaranteeing dutiable payments by a person performing the above-mentioned activities shall not be less than
- 50 million roubles, on the part of a customs broker;
- 2.5 million roubles, and, additionally, 1000 roubles per one square metre of useful area of an open plot land used as a warehouse, or 300 roubles per one square metre of useful volume of a room used as a warehouse, on the part of the owners of open-type temporary-storage and bonded warehouses;
- 2.5 million roubles, on the part of the owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses;
- 20 million roubles, on the part of customs carriers.
Article 340. Methods for Securing Dutiable Payments
1. Dutiable payments shall be secured by the following methods:
[1] mortgaging of goods and other property;
[2] bank guarantee;
[3] disbursement of cash to the cashier’s desk or transfer of funds to the account of the customs office at the federal treasury (cash deposit);
[4] personal guarantee.
2. Security of dutiable payments may be realised, at the payer’s discretion, by any method stipulated by Item 1 herein of this Chapter.
3. In addition to the methods specified in Item 1 herein, the Federal Customs Authority in coordination with the Federal Supervisor of Insurance Activities determines the instances when dutiable payments may be secured by insurance agreements (Article 347). The legal statutes of the Russian Federation may also stipulate other methods of securing the payment of customs duties and taxes.
Article 341. Mortgage of Goods and Other Property
1. Subject to mortgage may be goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation as well as any other property, which may be subject to mortgage pursuant to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
2. A mortgage agreement is concluded between a customs office and a mortgager. A mortgager may be any person responsible for the disbursement of customs duties and taxes, as well as any other person.
3. If a mortgager fails to fulfil his or her obligations secured by mortgage, the customs authorities shall be obliged to transfer the arrears for the mortgager’s dutiable payments to the federal budget at the expense of the value of mortgaged property.
4. At case subject to mortgage are the goods in customs custody, the claims lodged by the customs authorities shall be satisfied at the expense of said goods without any court litigation as per Chapter 41 of this Customs Code. The claims lodged by the customs authorities with regard to other mortgaged property shall be regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Article 342. Bank Guarantee
1. The customs authorities shall accept bank guarantees issued by the banks, credit organisations or insurance companies recorded in the Register of Banks and Other Credit Organisations (hereinafter in this Chapter, the Register), which is kept by the Federal Customs Authority, as security for dutiable payments as per the order determined by the Federal Customs Authority.
2. The Federal Customs Authority shall be obliged to ensure regular publications in its official issues of the lists of banks, credit, or insurance organisations recorded in the Register.
3. The legal relations predicated on the issue of a bank guarantee, claims thereto, fulfilment by the guarantor of his (or her) obligations stipulated by a bank guarantee, and termination of the terms of a bank guarantee shall be subject to the provisions of law of the Russian Federation on the banks and banking operations, as well as the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
4. With regard to banks, credit organisations and insurance companies included in the Register of Banks and Other Credit Organisations, the Federal Customs Authority determines the minimal amount of a bank guarantee and the maximal amount of all concurrent bank guaranties issued by the same bank or the same credit organisation or insurance company for ensuring acceptance of such bank guarantees by customs authorities for the purpose of securing dutiable payments.
Article 343. Terms of Entry of Banks, Credit Organisations, and Insurance Companies onto the Register
1. Entry of banks, credit organisations, and insurance companies on to the Register is stipulated by their adherence to the terms and conditions stipulated by this Article. Entry of a bank onto the Register is free of charge.
2. The terms of entry of a bank onto the Register are, as follows:
[1] availability of certified license for banking operations issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and minimum five years of banking experience;
[2] absence of arrears before the customs authorities;
[3] availability of the bank authorised capital amounting to minimum 200 million roubles;
[4] availability of the bank’s assets (capital) amounting to minimum one billion roubles;
[5] observance of the established mandatory economic standards on all reporting dates within the preceding calendar year.
3. The terms of entry of a bank branch into the Register are, as follows:
[1] entry of the banks branch into the State Register of Credit Organisations;
[2] availability of the right to issue bank guarantees stipulated by the statute of said branch;
[3] compliance of the head bank to the terms and conditions of entry into the Register or its entry in the Register/
4. The terms of entry of an insurance company into the Register are, as follows:
[1] availability of a valid permanent licence issued by the Federal Insurance Authority to perform insurance activities in all categories of liability insurance adopted in customs operations;
[2] absence of arrears before the customs authorities;
[3] availability of the registered authorised capital amounting to minimum 500 million roubles;
[4] at least five years of experience in capacity of an insurance company;
[5] positive balance within the preceding calendar year;
[6] availability of free assets as per last reporting date in the amount not less than the normative amount;
[7] availability of net wealth upon the end of the preceding reporting period whose value should not be less than the volume of the paid authorised capital.
5. A bank, a credit organisation or an insurance company applying for entry to the Register will submit to the customs authorities a written application containing the details confirming its compliance with the terms and conditions stipulated by the Register and submit the following documents:
[1] a bank will be obliged to submit:
- the bank certificate of incorporation;
- the bank registration certificate as a juridical person;
- the bank registration certificate as a credit organisation issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
- the license of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to perform banking operations;
- the duly certified signature card with specimen signatures of the bank officials who are authorised to affix their signatures and the bank seal on bank guarantees;
- the document containing the estimates of the bank assets (capital) as per reporting dates for the preceding calendar year signed by the bank manager, the chief accountant and certified by the bank official seal;
- the bank balance report as per preceding reporting date signed by the bank manager, the chief accountant and certified by the bank official seal;
- the bank income and loss report as per preceding reporting date signed by the bank manager, the chief accountant and certified by the bank official seal;
- the certified reference confirming fulfilment by the bank of its mandatory economic norms and values of the indexes used for their computation as per each reporting date for the preceding calendar year signed by the bank manager, the chief accountant and certified by the bank official seal;
- a copy of the bank auditing conclusion certifying the authenticity of the bank accounting reports for the preceding year signed by the bank manager, the chief accountant and certified by the bank official seal;
[2] a bank branch will be obliged to submit:
- the branch statute;
- the bank registration certificate as a juridical person;
- the information letter issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation certifying the entry of said branch in the Book of the State Registration of Credit Organisations;
- the duly certified signature card with specimen signatures of the branch officials who are authorised to affix their signatures and the branch seal on bank guarantees;
[3] an insurance company will be obliged to submit:
- the company certificate of incorporation;
- the company registration certificate as a juridical person;
- the duly certified signature card with specimen signatures of the insurance company officials who are authorised to affix their signatures and the company seal on bank guarantees;
- the company balance report for the preceding two quarter years signed by the company manager, the chief accountant and certified by the company seal;
- the company income and loss report as per each quarter year for the preceding calendar year signed by the company manager, the chief accountant and certified by the company seal;
- the company assets and liabilities report as per each quarter year for the preceding calendar year signed by the company manager, the chief accountant and certified by the company seal;
- the certified reference containing information explicating the company performance indexes for the preceding calendar year signed by the company manager, the chief accountant and certified by the company seal;
- a copy of the company auditing conclusion certifying the authenticity of the company accounting reports for the preceding year signed by the company manager, the chief accountant and certified by the company seal.
6. The documents stipulated by Item 5 herein may be submitted as originals or as duly certified copies.
As soon as the application has been considered, the Federal Customs Authority shall be obliged to return, upon the applicant’s request, the originals of all submitted documents.
7. The Federal Customs Authority shall consider the application for entry into the Register within the period not exceeding 30 days from the day of submission of the application, and makes a decision with regard to including the applicant bank, a credit organisation, or an insurance company into the Register. The Federal Customs Authority will resolve to reject an application for entry into the Register in case the applicant does not meet the terms and conditions stipulated by Item 2 herein.
The customs authorities shall notify the applicant in writing of their passed decision within three days from the date of the decision-making.
8. When considering the application for entry onto the Register the Federal Customs Authority has the right to request that third parties, as well as state agencies provide documentation in order to verify the information and the documents submitted by the applicant. Those persons shall be obliged to furnish the requested documents within ten days from the day they receive such a request from said customs office.
9. The decision denying the applicant’s entry to the Register may only be passed in case the applicant has breached the terms and conditions stipulated herein.
The customs authorities shall notify the applicant in writing of their decision to deny his entry to the Register substantiating the reasons thereof within three days from the date of said decision-making.
10. The applicant bank, credit organisation, or insurance company shall be entered into the register starting from the first day of the month following the month when said decision is passed.
Article 344. Exclusion of a Bank, a Credit Organisation or an Insurance Company from the Register
1. A bank, a credit organisation or an insurance company may be excluded from the Register upon a decision made by the Federal Customs Authority in the following instances:
- liquidation or reorganisation of the bank, credit organisation or insurance company;
- withdrawal by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of its licence for a bank to perform banking operations or by the Federal Insurance Authority of its license from an insurance organisation to perform insurance operations;
- breach of at least one of the terms of entry into the Register;
- breach of the obligations as per a bank guarantee;
- expiration of one year from the date of entry into the Register provided the bank, credit organisation or insurance company has not applied for the re-entry to the Register in accordance with the established procedure.
2. Exclusion of a bank, a credit organisation or an insurance company from the Register shall not terminate the validity of the bank guarantees issued by it and accepted by the customs authorities nor relieve them of the responsibility for improper fulfilment of the terms of the bank guarantees issued by them.
3. A bank, a credit organisation or an insurance company, which have been excluded from the Register, may be reinstated in the Register in one year’s time provided they have eliminated the reasons for their exclusion from the Register.
Article 345. Placement of Funds in the Bank Account of the Customs Office (Cash Deposit)
1. Disbursement of cash to the cashier’s desk or in the bank account of the customs office in terms of a guarantee for payment of customs duties and taxes (cash deposit) may be effected using the legal tender of the Russian Federation or foreign currency whose exchange rate is quoted by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
2. The amount of the cash deposit shall not be charged any interest.
3. In the event of breach of an obligation secured by a cash deposit, the amounts payable as dutiable payments, penalty fees, and the interests shall be deducted from the federal budget from the deposited cash amounts.
4. Following the fulfilment of the obligations secured by a cash deposit, the deposited cash shall be reimbursed as per Article 357 of this Customs Code, or, upon the payer’s request, said funds may be retained for making or securing future dutiable payments, or for securing the dutiable payments predicated on the payer’s other obligations before the customs authorities.
5. The customs authorities shall issue a customs receipt in confirmation of the cash deposit disbursed by the payer as security for dutiable payments to the cashier’s desk or credited to the bank account of the customs office concerned. The form and application of said customs receipt is regulated by the Federal Customs Authority in coordination with the Federal Fiscal Authority as per Article 357 of this Customs Code.
Article 346. Guarantee
A guarantee can be formalised pursuant to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation through a contract concluded between a customs office and a guarantor. Acting in capacity of guarantors may be customs brokers, owners of temporary-storage warehouses, owners of bonded warehouses, duty-free shops and other persons.
Article 347. Application of Insurance Contract as Security for Dutiable Payments
1. In the instances determined by the Federal Customs Authority in coordination with the Federal Insurance Authority, an insurance contract made in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation may serve as security for a person’s dutiable payments.
2. With a view to securing dutiable payments, the customs authorities shall accept the insurance contracts concluded with the insurance companies included into the Register of Insurance Organisations whose insurance contracts may be accepted as security for dutiable payments. The procedures, terms, and conditions of the entry of insurance organisations into the Register, as well as the order of its keeping are regulated by the Federal Customs Authority in coordination with the Federal Insurance Authority.
Article 348. General Provisions Stipulating Compulsory Collection of Customs Duties and Taxes
1. In case due customs duties and taxes have not been paid in full in the prescribed period of time, the customs authorities shall collect said customs duties and taxes using a compulsory procedure stipulated by this Chapter.
2. The unpaid amounts due for customs duties and taxes may be collected compulsorily from the persons responsible for the payment of said customs duties and taxes (Article 320) or at the expense of the merchandise whose due customs duties and taxes remain unpaid (Article 352).
3. The compulsory collection of customs duties and taxes from juridical persons shall be performed by way of collecting from them the unpaid amounts due for customs duties and taxes at the expense of the funds deposited at payers’ bank accounts (Article 351) or the payers’ other property (Article 353), as well as through the court. The compulsory collection of customs duties and taxes from natural persons shall be performed through the court.
4. Prior to applying the measure of compulsory collection of unpaid customs duties and taxes, the customs authorities shall issue a payment order to the person responsible for the payment of customs duties and taxes (Article 350), except the instances stipulated by item 2 of Article 352 of this Customs Code.
5. The compulsory collection of dutiable payments shall not be applied in the following situations:
- when the payment order for the customs duties and taxes (Article 350) has not been issued within three years from the date of expiry of their term of payment or from the date of occurrence of the event predicating the persons’ responsibility to disburse customs duties and taxes in accordance with this Customs Code;
- if the total amount of the customs duties and taxes levied on the goods stated in the customs declaration or on the goods dispatched at the same time, by the same sender to the same recipient amounts to less than 150 roubles.
Article 349. Penalty Fees
1. The penalty fee shall be charged for non-payment (delay of payment) of customs duties and taxes within prescribed time limits
2. With the exception of the circumstances stipulated by Items 3 through 5 herein, penalty fees shall be charged for each calendar day of a delay in payments of customs duties and taxes beginning from the day following the date of expiry of the time limit prescribed for the disbursement of due customs duties and taxes until the day when the payer fulfils his (or her) obligations as per dutiable payments, or until the day when the customs authorities resolve to approve a deferment for the payment of customs duties and taxes or their disbursement by instalments including the interest thereon equivalent to one three-hundredth of the refinance rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation chargeable on the amount of unpaid dutiable customs duties and taxes (arrears). Calculation of penalty fees is based on the refinance rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation effective during the payment delay period.
3. In lodging a demand to the guarantor for the payment of due customs duties and taxes, penalty fees shall be charged for the period of not exceeding three months from the day following the date of expiry of the time limit prescribed for the fulfilment of the obligations secured by a bank or other guarantee.
4. In lodging a demand to the person responsible for the payment of due customs duties and taxes, penalty fees shall be charged as per day of lodging said demand. In case customs duties and taxes have not been disbursed within prescribed time limits, penalty fees shall be charged pursuant to the provisions of Item 2 herein.
5. In the event when the time limit stipulated for the submission of a customs declaration was been breached, with merchandise being stowed in a temporary-storage warehouse (Article 9), no penalty fees shall be charged or disbursed for the period of the goods temporary storage.
6. Penalty fees shall be disbursed in addition to the sums of the payer’s arrears regardless of other liability measures applied due to a violation of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.
7. Penalty fees shall disbursed concurrently with the due customs duties and taxes or after said payments, but not later than in one month from the date of payment of customs duties and taxes.
8. An application for a deferment of payment of customs duties and taxes or their disbursement by instalments shall not affect the penalty fees charged to the payer’s arrears
9. Disbursement, collection and reimbursement of penalty fees shall be regulated by the provisions stipulated by this Customs Code for disbursement, collection and reimbursement of customs duties and taxes.
Article 350. Demand for Dutiable Payments
1. The demand for dutiable payments constitutes a written notification issued by the customs authorities with regard to the amount of dutiable payments which have not been disbursed by the payer within prescribed time limits as well as the payer’s obligation to disburse due amount of customs duties and taxes, penalty fees and/or the interest thereon within the time limit prescribed by this demand.
2. The demand for payment of customs duties and taxes ought to contain the information pertaining to the due amounts of payable customs duties and taxes, the due amount of penalty fines and/or the interest accrued to the dutiable payments as per the day of issuance of said demand, the time terms for completing the dutiable payments as stipulated by this Customs Code, the time limits prescribed for the fulfilment of this demand, the measures that may be applied to the payer for enforcing and securing compulsory collection of dutiable payments in case the payer has ignored the demands lodged by the customs authorities, as well as the legal grounds for such a demand. The form of the demand for dutiable payments is approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
3. The demand for dutiable payments ought to be dispatched to the payer not later than in ten days from the day when the customs authorities reveal the fact of non-payment or incomplete payment of customs duties and taxes.
4. The time limit prescribed for the fulfilment of the demand for dutiable payments should not be less than ten and not more than twenty working days beginning from the date of receipt of said demand by the payer. In case the payer has not fulfilled said demand with the prescribed period of time, the customs authorities apply compulsory measures for collecting due customs payments in accordance with this Chapter.
5. The demand for dutiable payments shall be handed directly to the head or other authorised representative of the payer organisation or to a natural person concerned against a written receipt or by any other way confirming the fact and the date and time of receipt of said demand. In case such persons opt to evade receipt of said demand, it should be posted as registered mail. The demand for dutiable payments shall be regarded as received after six days following its dispatch by the registered have elapsed.
6. In case the payer fails to fulfil the demand for dutiable payment within the time terms stipulated by Item 4 herein, the customs authorities take measures for enforcing compulsory collection of unpaid dutiable payments in accordance with this Chapter.
7. The demand for dutiable payments will be dispatched to the payer irrespective of the payer’s criminal or administrative charges.
Article 351. Collection of Dutiable Payments at the Expense of Cash Deposits at the Payer’s Bank Accounts (Indisputable Collection)
1. In case of the payer’s failure to complete dutiable payments within prescribed time limits, the customs authorities resolve to collect the unpaid funds from the payer’s bank accounts according to the indisputable order.
The form the customs authorities’ resolution with regard to the collection due amounts according to the indisputable order (hereinafter, indisputable collection) is approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
2. The customs authorities shall be obliged to pass a resolution with regard to application to the payer of the indisputable collection not later than in thirty days from the date of expiry of their demand for dutiable payments.
In case a resolution with regard to indisputable collection has been passed after the designated time limit has elapsed, such resolution will neither have any power nor be subject to execution. In such a situation the customs office will sue the payer in court by way of lodging a lawsuit for the compulsory collection of due customs payments. In such a situation the customs office concerned will sue the payer in court lodging a claim for the unpaid amounts of dutiable payments.
3. A resolution mandating the indisputable collection of the payer’s arrears provides grounds for the customs authorities to forward a collection order (instruction) to the payer’s bank instructing the bank to debit from the payer’s account(s) the due amount and transfer it to the bank account of the customs office concerned.
4. The indisputable collection of dutiable payments is effected from the payer’s checking accounts, except the payer’s loan accounts, unless the Russian legislation on taxes and duties contains other provisions thereto. Dutiable payments from the payer’s foreign currency account(s) are debited in the amounts equivalent to those in Russian roubles calculated on the basis of the currency exchange rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the date of factual collection of due funds. At the instance of collection of due funds from the payer’s foreign currency accounts, the chief of the customs office in charge or his (or her) deputy shall be obliged to supplement the collection order (instruction) with an instruction to the payer’s bank to sell the requisite amount of foreign currency from the payer’s checking account not later than on the day following said instruction.
5. The collection order (instruction) issued by a customs office shall be executed by the bank pursuant to the terms and conditions stipulated by the Russian legislation on taxes and duties for the enforcement of the collection orders (instructions) issued by tax authorities.
Article 352. Collection of Customs Duties and Taxes at the Expense of Goods Whose Due Customs Duties and Taxes Remain Unpaid
1. In the instances stipulated by this Customs Code, as well as in case of absence of an adequate amount on the payer’s checking accounts or insufficient information thereof, the customs authorities have the right to collect the unpaid customs duties and taxes at the expense of the goods, for which due customs duties and taxes have not been paid, provided such goods have been released for free circulation in accordance with the procedure stipulated by this Customs Code.
2. The unpaid customs duties and taxes may only be collected at the expense of the goods, for which due customs duties and taxes have not been paid, without sending the payer a demand for dutiable payments in the following instances:
- if the time limit for the storage of such goods at the temporary-storage warehouse or bonded warehouse has expired (Articles 103 и 218);
- if the customs authorities have not identified the person responsible for the payment of due customs duties and taxes.
3. Due customs duties and taxes shall be collected at the expense of goods based on the ruling passed by a court of justice provided the payer is a natural person or the person responsible for the payment of said customs duties and taxes has not been identified by the customs authorities, or on the ruling passed by an arbitration tribunal in case the person responsible for the payment of due customs duties and taxes is juridical entity or an individual entrepreneur, except the instances when such goods have been transferred to the customs authorities as mortgage (Article 341), or when subject to said collection are the goods whose storage time limit at the temporary-storage warehouse or bonded warehouse has expired.
4. Due customs duties and taxes may only be collected at the expense of goods provided the customs duties and taxes due for them have not been disbursed completely or partially in the order and within the time terms stipulated by this Customs Code.
5. Due customs duties and taxes shall be collected at the expense of goods irrespective of their owner.
6. Disposal of the amounts accrued as a result of sale of said goods shall be effected in accordance with the provisions contained in Article 432 of this Customs Code.
Article 353. Collection of Dutiable Payments at the Expense of Payer’s Other Property
1. In case the payer has not fulfilled the demand for dutiable payments, or in case of insufficiency or lack of required amounts at the payer’s checking accounts, or in the absence of any details on the payer’s checking accounts, the customs authorities have the right to collect the unpaid customs duties and taxes at the expense of the payer’s available unclaimed amounts of advance payments, the payer’s cash deposit or his (or her) other property including cash.
2. Collection of due customs duties and taxes at the expense of the payer’s advance payments or cash deposit shall be enforced upon a resolution in that regard made the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy within the period when said funds are deposited at the customs office account provided the payer has been formally notified thereof in the demand for dutiable payments (Article 350). The customs office concerned shall forward a written notification to the person who placed said amounts to the customs office account informing him (or her) of the collection of due customs duties and taxes at the expense of the payer’s advance payments or cash deposit within one working day following the date of said collection.
3. Collection of due customs duties and taxes at the expense of the payer’s other property shall be enforced by way of forwarding of a resolution in that regard passed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy in accordance with the procedure stipulated by Tax Code of the Russian Federation to the bailiff within a period of three working days. The enforcement of said resolution by the bailiff shall be effected pursuant to the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the Russian legislation on law enforcement.
Article 354. Obligation of Banks and Other Credit Organisations to Abide by Resolutions Passed by the Customs Authorities with regard to the Collection of Dutiable Payments
1. The banks and other credit organisations shall be obliged to abide by the resolutions passed by customs authorities with regard to the indisputable collection of dutiable payments.
2. The banks and other credit organisations shall be obliged to implement a resolution passed by the customs authorities with regard to the indisputable collection of dutiable payments within one bank trading day following the date of receipt of said resolution.
3. In case the payer had sufficient funds in his (or her) checking account the banks and other credit organisations shall not have the right to defer execution of the resolution passed by the customs authorities with regard to the indisputable collection of dutiable payments.
4. The banks and other credit organisations shall be liable for non-execution or improper execution of the responsibilities vested in them pursuant to the provisions of this Article in accordance with applicable law of the Russian Federation.
5. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to the obligations of banks and other credit organisations to fulfil the resolutions passed by the customs authorities with regard to indisputable collection of dutiable penalty fees and the interest thereon.
Article 355. Reimbursement of Excessively Paid or Excessively Collected Customs Duties and Taxes
1. Excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be defined as the amounts of customs duties and taxes which have been de facto disbursed or collected in excess of the amounts stipulated by the statutes of law of the Russian Federation and by this Customs Code.
2. Excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be the returned by the customs office concerned upon the payer’s request. Such a request should be submitted to the customs office to whose account(s) said amounts were credited or which effected the collection of said amounts within three years following the date of their disbursement or collection by the customs office concerned.
3. In case of discovery of the fact of excessively paid or excessively collected dutiable payments, the customs authorities shall be obliged to notify the payer of the amount of the excessively paid or collected customs duties and taxes within one month’s time from the day of discovery a such a fact.
4. Reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be effected upon a resolution in that regard passed by the customs office to whose accounts said amounts of customs duties and taxes have been credited. The overall period for considering the payer’s request for reimbursement, passing a resolution in that regard and reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall not exceed one month from the date of submission of a written request thereto and supply of all required documents. In case the time limit stipulated herein has not been observed, the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes which have not been reimbursed within the designated period of time shall be subject to an interest chargeable thereto for each day of non-fulfilment of the time terms of the funds reimbursement. The interest rate shall be equivalent to the refinance rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation effective within the period of violation of the terms of reimbursement. In case payments or collection of customs duties and taxes was made in foreign currency, the interest stipulated by this Item shall be charged to the amount of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes re-calculated in accordance with the exchange rate determined by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation into the legal tender of the Russian Federation effective on the day when said excessive payment or excessive collection occurred.
5. Reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be made to the account specified in the payer’s request for reimbursement.
6. Reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be made in the legal tender of the Russian Federation. In case payments or collection of customs duties and taxes was made in foreign currency, reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be made in accordance with the exchange rate determined by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation effective on the day when said excessive payment or excessive collection occurred.
7. In the instance of reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes, the penalty fees and the interest paid or collected on the amounts of reimbursed customs duties and taxes, with the exception of the dutiable payments stipulated by Article 356 of this Customs Code, shall also be refunded.
8. Upon the payer’s request, reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes may be accounted for as fulfilment of the payer’s liabilities with regard to other dutiable payments, penalty fees, interests and fines. Compensation for the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall be effected in accordance with this Article with regard to the reimbursement procedure with consideration of the provisions stipulated by Item 9 herein.
9. Excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes shall not be refunded in the following instances:
- if the payer’s arrears in dutiable payments are equivalent to the refundable amount. In this situation, said arrears may be compensated by the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes;
- if the amount of refundable dutiable payments is less than 150 roubles, except the instances when such dutiable payments were excessively disbursed by or collected from natural persons;
- if the request for return was submitted after the expiration of the proscribed time limit.
- if the payer submit the claim for reimbursement of the excessively paid or excessively collected amounts of customs duties and taxes after the expiry of the prescribed time limits.
- If the payer has arrears in dutiable payments, penalty fees and interest thereon, the customs office concerned has the right to redeem said amounts at the expense of the amounts of the excessively paid or excessively collected dutiable payments. In such situation, the customs office concerned shall be obliged to inform the payer of said compensation within three days.
10. In the instance of reimbursement of excessively made dutiable payments, the interest thereon shall not be refunded, except in the case stipulated by Item 4 herein; such amounts shall not be subject to indexing.
Article 356. Other Cases for Reimbursement of Dutiable Payments
1. Customs duties and taxes shall also be refunded in the following instances:
[1] a customs declaration submitted to customs authorities is regarded as void in accordance with this Customs Code;
[2] withdrawal of the customs declaration;
[3] provision of tariff privileges in the form of refund of the disbursed amount of dutiable payments;
[4] reinstatement of the status of the most favoured nation or of tariff preferences;
[5] if this Customs Code stipulates reimbursement of the disbursed amounts of customs duties and taxes at the instance of exportation of foreign goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, or their destruction, or rejection in favour of the state, or in the instance of goods re-importation;
[6] a change of the previously declared customs procedure, which has been authorised by the customs authorities, provided the amounts of customs duties and taxes payable at the instance of placement of said goods under the newly elected customs procedures is smaller than that disbursed upon placement of said goods under the initially opted customs procedure, except the case stipulated by Item 6 of Article 212 of this Customs Code;
[7] application of temporary, special, antidumping or compensatory duties stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activity.
2. Reimbursement of customs duties and taxes in the cases stipulated by Item 1 herein shall be effected upon the payer’s submission of a request in that regard within one year from the day following the date of occurrence of the circumstances predicating reimbursement of the customs duties and taxes disbursed as per Article 355 of this Customs Code, which provision is applicable to the refund of excessively paid or collected dutiable payments. In this instance, the provisions stipulated by Item 7 of Article 355 of this Customs Code shall not apply.
Article 357. Refund of Cash Deposit
1. Cash deposits shall be refunded after the payer’s obligations secured by the cash deposit have been fulfilled provided the payer submits his (or her) request for the refund to the customs office concerned within three years from the day following after the date of fulfilment of the payer’s obligations. After the expiry of said time term, the unclaimed amounts of cash deposits shall be transferred to the Federal Budget and shall no longer be subject to reimbursement.
2. A cash deposit shall be refunded by the same customs office to whose account said amount was credited or to whose cashier’s desk it was disbursed, or by the customs office where the customs procedure declared by the payer is completed provided its fulfilment has been secured by the cash deposit.
3. The cash deposit shall be refunded upon the submission of the pertinent customs receipt (Item 5 of Article 345) in the same currency as the cash payment. In case said cash deposit was made in the foreign currency which is no longer available, the customs office has the right to refund the payer in a different currency whose exchange rate is quoted by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or, upon the payer’s request, in the legal tender of the Russian Federation. Recalculation of foreign currencies shall be based on the exchange rate established the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the day of refund the cash deposit.
4. If the amount of cash deposit was disbursed in cash to the cashier’s desk of the customs office, said amount, on the payer’s request, may be refunded by was of a cash transfer to the bank account designated by the payer.
5. A cash deposit shall not be refunded if the payer has arrears with regard to the dutiable payments, penalty fees or the interest in the amount equivalent to that of the arrears. The customs office has the right to collect said cash deposit in compensation for the payer’s arrears as per Article 353 of this Customs Code.
6. At the instance of refund of the cash deposit, the interest charged thereon shall not be reimbursed, the amounts shall not be indexed, and the bank commission on banking operations shall be repaid from the transferred amounts.
Article 358. Principles of Customs Control
1. In conducting customs control measures, the customs authorities proceed from the principle of selectivity and, as a rule, confine themselves to the forms of customs control sufficient for ensuring the observance of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.
2. In opting for the most appropriate form of customs control, customs authorities will rely on the risk management system, said risk being regarded as a probability of breaches of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.
The risk management system is based on efficient utilisation of customs resources for preventing breaches of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation, as follows:
- recurring;
- predicated on evasion of dutiable payments in considerable amounts;
- undermining competitiveness of domestic producers;
- infringing on vital interests of the state whose observance is vested in customs authorities.
3. The customs authorities apply the risk assessment methods for determining the goods, means of transport, documents, and the persons that should be subjected to customs control and determine the decree of such customs control measures.
4. The Federal Customs Authority determines the customs control strategy proceeding from the risk assessment evaluation system.
5. With a view to further improving the customs control measures, the Federal Customs Authority cooperates with the customs authorities of foreign countries, concluding mutual assistance agreements.
6. With a view to raising the effectiveness of customs control measures, the Federal Customs Authority and other customs authorities shall seek to promote cooperation with the participants of foreign economic activities, customs carriers, and other organisation, whose activities are associated with foreign trade, as well as with their trade unions (associations).
7. Customs control procedures are carried out exclusively by the officers of customs bodies in accordance with the provisions stipulated by this Customs Code.
Article 359. Terms of Examination of Customs Declarations and Other Documents and Inspection of Goods during Customs Registration
1. In the process of customs registration of merchandise, the examination of the customs declaration and other relevant documents submitted to the customs authorities, as well as the inspection of merchandise aimed at verifying the compliance of the information stated in said customs declarations and other documents with the goods names, origin, quantity and value ought to be accomplished not later than within three working days from the date of receipt by the customs office concerned of the customs declaration, the accompanying documents, and presentation of goods for inspection, except the instances when this Customs Code stipulates shorter time limits for such measures.
2. The customs authorities have the right to extend the time terms of goods inspection in case the consignment of said goods is not divided into separate packing lots based on the goods categories and/or descriptions, and/or in case the information explicating the goods packing and marking is not stated in commercial and/or shipment documents and waybills pertaining to said consignment. The extension of time terms of the goods inspection will be resorted to in case the circumstances stated above prevent customs officers from performing the required operations with a view to establishing the compliance of merchandise with the information thereof contained in the submitted customs declaration. The time terms of the goods inspection may be extended by the period that may be required for the person responsible for said goods to break the consignment into separate categories of goods.
Article 360. Goods and Means of transport under Customs Control
1. Goods and means of transport imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation shall be regarded under customs control from the moment of their conveyance across the customs border upon their entry to the customs territory of the Russian Federation until they are:
- released to free circulation;
- destroyed;
- rejected in favour of the state or otherwise converted into federal property or other form of disposal as per Chapter 41 of this Customs Code;
- de facto exported from the customs territory of the Russian Federation.
Utilization and disposal of the imported goods and means of transport under customs control shall only be permitted in the order and on the terms stipulated by this Customs Code.
2. Russian goods and means of transport shall have the status of goods under customs control during their exportation from the customs territory of the Russian Federation from the moment of acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration thereof or performance of another operations directly stipulating the exportation of said goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation until their de facto crossing of the customs border.
3. The customs authorities shall verify the fulfilment of persons’ obligations with regard to re-importation of Russian goods and means of transport which were previously exported from the customs territory of the Russian Federation or re-importation of their compensating products in accordance with the terms of the applicable customs procedures in the order stipulated by the provisions of this Section of the Customs Code provided suck goods or their compensating products are liable for mandatory re-importation in accordance with law of the Russian Federation.
Article 361. Verification of Authenticity of Information Following Release of Goods and/or Means of transport for Free Circulation
1. Following the release of goods and/or means of transport for free circulation, the customs authorities have the right to verify the authenticity of information declared at the instance of the goods customs registration pursuant to the order stipulated by Chapter 35 of this Customs Code.
2. The customs authorities have the right to verify the authenticity of information following the release of goods and/or means of transport for free circulation within one year from the date when said goods and/or means of transport have relinquished their customs control status.
3. In the instances and in the order stipulated by this Customs Code and other legal statutes of the Russian Federation the customs authorities exercise customs control measures in the course of turnover of the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation by verifying the information certifying the release of said goods and/or means of transport by the customs authorities in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated by this Customs Code, as well as by verifying the availability of marking or other identification signs used for certifying the legality of importation of said goods to the customs territory of the Russian Federation.
Article 362. Customs Control Zones
1. Customs control zones are set up for effecting customs control measures through customs examination and customs inspection of goods and/or means of transport, as well as their storage and haulage in customs custody.
Customs control zones may be set up along the customs border, in those places designated for customs registration formalities, performance of customs operations, in the places of goods transhipment, their examination and inspection, in the places of goods temporary storage, parking grounds of means of the transport involved in haulage of goods in customs custody, as well as in other places stipulated by this Customs Code.
2. The customs control zones can be permanent, as in those instances when the goods subject to customs control are stowed there on a regular basis, or temporary. The temporary customs control zones may be set up:
- for the performance of customs registration formalities with goods beyond the places designated for the performance of customs operations (Article 406) within the time limit required for the completion of such operations provided performance thereof predicates the designation of a customs control zone based on the necessity to ensure unobstructed discharge by customs authorities of their functions;
- in case of need to execute inspection and examination of goods and/or means of transport which were discovered by the customs authorities outside permanent customs control zones.
A written resolution with regard to setting up a temporary customs control zone is passed by the chief of a customs office or by the person substituting him (or her).
3. The order setting up and marking customs control zones as well as defining the requirements thereto are approved by the Federal Customs Authority except those instances when customs control zones are set up along the customs border of the Russian Federation. The customs control zones located along the customs border are established in the order determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
The order of inception marking a customs control zones, as well as requirements thereto in those instances when such zones established on the premises of the checkpoint at the State Border of the Russian Federation shall be determined by the Federal Customs Authority with consideration of the provisions of the statutes of the Federal Law on the State Border of the Russian Federation.
4. The activities associated with goods production and other commercial operations, conveyance of goods, means of transport and persons including officials of other state bodies across the boundaries of customs control zones and inside their perimeter may only be permitted by the customs authorities and under their surveillance, except those instances stipulated by this Code and other federal laws. In such cases, admission to the customs control zones will be permitted upon preliminary notification of the customs authorities.
On the premises of the checkpoint at the State Border of the Russian Federation, such restrictions with regard to the activities, conveyance of goods, means of transport and persons across the boundaries of customs control zones shall be regulated by the Federal Law on the State Border of the Russian Federation.
5. Customs inspection of goods may only be performed in designated customs control zones.
Article 363. Submission of Documents and Information Required for Customs Control
1. The persons, conveying goods and transportation means across the customs border, customs brokers (proxies), owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses, and customs carriers shall be obliged to submit to the customs authorities the documents and information required for customs control purposes whose submission is stipulated by this Customs Code.
2. The customs authorities request that the documents and information required for customs control be submitted in writing and establish sufficient time limits for their submission. Upon a person’s motivated request, the customs authorities may extend said time limits by the period required for submission of required documents and information.
3. For customs control purposes, the customs authorities have the right to obtain from the banks and other credit organisations the information and references with regard to the persons associated with foreign trade activities and disbursement of dutiable payments specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, as well as references with regard to the operations conducted by customs brokers, owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses, and customs carriers.
4. With a view to verifying the authenticity of information pertaining to imported goods following the release of goods for free circulation, the customs authorities have the right to request and obtain commercial documents, bookkeeping documents and reports, and other information, including electronic versions thereof, relating to foreign economic operations with such goods, as well as obtain information from the goods declarant or any other persons, who have been directly or indirectly connected with the operations with said goods, on subsequent operations with the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation.
5. The customs authorities have the right to obtain from the bodies responsible for registering juridical persons as well as the other agencies the information they require for exercising customs control measures.
6. The documents required for exercising customs control measures must be preserved by the persons concerned for at least three calendar years following the year when the goods relinquish the status of the goods subject to customs control. The customs brokers (proxies), owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses, and customs carriers shall be obliged to preserve said documents for five calendar years following the year when said customs control operations were exercised.
Article 364. Submission of Reports for Customs Control Purposes
Upon a request by the customs authorities, the customs brokers (proxies), owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses, customs carriers, the persons who are entitled to special simplified customs procedures (Article 68), as well as the persons using and/or owning the conditionally released goods shall be obliged to submit to the customs authorities their reports with regard to the goods they stow, haul, sell, process and/or utilise in goods in accordance with the forms approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
Article 365. Inadmissibility of Unwarranted Damage in the Process of Customs Control Measures
1. Any unwarranted damage to the carrier, declarant, their proxies, owners of temporary-storage and bonded warehouses, other interested persons, as well as the goods and means of transport is inadmissible.
2. Any unwarranted losses caused by improper decisions, actions (inaction) of customs offices or their officers in the process of customs control procedures shall be reimbursed in full measure including forfeited profit.
3. The customs offices or their officers shall bear responsibility for the damage caused to persons in accordance with federal law.
4. Any losses caused to persons by customs officers’ lawful decisions or actions shall not be reimbursed, except the instances stipulated by the federal law.
Article 366. Forms of Customs Control
Customs control measures may have the following forms:
[1] verification of documents and information;
[2] verbal inquiry;
[3] acquirement of explanations;
[4] customs monitoring;
[5] customs examination of goods and means of transport;
[6] customs inspection of goods and means of transport;
[7] personal search;
[8] verification of special markings or other identification of goods;
[9] customs inspection of rooms and territories for customs control purposes;
[10] customs auditing.
Article 367. Verification of Documents and Information
1. The customs authorities verify the documents and the information submitted to them at the instance of customs registration of goods and means of transport in accordance with the provisions of this Customs Code for the purpose of verifying the authenticity of documents and of the information contained therein, as well as the compliance of their formats.
2. Verification of the authenticity of the information submitted to the customs authorities in the process of goods customs registration shall be performed by way of comparing said information with the data acquired from other sources including the data obtained based on the results of application of other forms of customs control measures, analysing the available special customs statistics data, processing the available data using computer software, and by other ways which are not prohibited by law of the Russian Federation.
3. In the process of goods customs registration formalities, the customs authorities have the right to request additional documents and data exclusively foe the purpose of verifying the information contained in the goods customs declaration and other goods-related customs documents. The customs office shall request such documents in writing and stipulate sufficient time limits for their submission.
4. Request of additional documents and information or their verification shall not impede the release of goods (Article 149) unless this Customs Code stipulates different provisions thereto.
Article 368. Verbal Inquiry
In the process of customs registration formalities with the goods and means of transport conveyed across the customs border, customs officers have the right to perform verbal inquiry of natural persons and the person representing the organisations endowed with powers with regard to said goods and means of transport without formalising the explanations provided by said persons in writing.
Article 369. Acquirement of Explanations
1. Acquirement of explanations is defined as an act of obtaining by a customs officer of the information pertaining to the circumstances, which have special significance for effecting customs control measures, from the persons specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code including goods declarants and the other persons involved in the conveyance of goods and means of transport across the customs border who possess such information.
2. The explanations obtained therefore shall be formalised in writing. The form of explanatory statements is approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
Article 370. Customs Monitoring
Customs monitoring constitutes open, purposeful, systematic or occasional, direct or indirect visual surveillance (with the use of technical facilities) exercised by the authorised customs authorities for monitoring the haulage of goods and means of transport under customs control, as well as various cargo-handling and other operations with such goods and means of transport.
Article 371. Customs Inspection of Goods and Means of transport
1. Customs inspection of goods and means of transport constitutes an external visual inspection goods, hand luggage and baggage carries by natural persons, means of transport, cargo compartments, customs seals, stamps and other goods identification facilities for customs control purposes performed by the customs officers provided such inspection does not involve unsealing of means of transport or their cargo compartments and damage of the goods packaging.
2. In the territory of customs control zones, the customs inspection of goods and means of transport may be conducted in the absence of the goods declarants or the other persons in charge of said goods and means of transport and/or their representatives, except those instances when said persons have expressed their wish to attend the inspection.
3. In case a customs inspection of goods and means of transport reveals that the actual quantity of goods does not tally with the goods quantity as stated in the customs declaration, the customs authorities shall determined the quantity of goods on their own for customs clearance purposes.
4. Based on the results of a customs inspection of goods and means of transport, the customs authorities may draw up a customs inspection report compiled in accordance with the form approved by the Federal customs Authority provided the results of said customs inspection may be required in the future. Upon a request by a person responsible for said goods and/or means of transport, the customs authorities shall be obliged either to draw up a customs inspection report or affix a requisite stamp on the goods waybill thereby certifying the fact of said customs inspection. The duplicate copy of the customs inspection report shall be given to the person responsible for said goods and/or means of transport.
Article 372. Customs Examination of Goods and Means of transport
1. The customs examination constitutes examination of the goods and means of transport by customs officers involving removal of customs seals, stamps and other goods identification facilities, opening of the goods packaging or unsealing of the cargo compartments or reservoirs, containers and other places in the means of transport applicable for stowing goods.
The goods customs examination is normally performed following the acceptance by the customs authorities of the customs declaration pertaining to said goods. The customs examination can be conducted prior to the submission of a customs declaration pertaining to the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation with the view to identifying said goods for customs clearance purposes, or in the instance when the customs authorities have received information suggesting a breach of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation, with a view to verifying such information, as well as for effecting customs control measures based on a spot-checking principle.
2. Upon making a decision to conduct goods customs examination, a customs officer shall state said decision to the declarant or another person responsible for said goods and/or means of transport provided he (or she) has been identified. The declarants, the persons in charge of said goods and/or means of transport or their proxies may attend, and, upon the customs authorities’ demand, shall be obliged to attend the customs examination of said goods and/or means of transport. In the absence of any proxy specially authorised by the carrier, the customs examination shall be attended by a natural person driving the means of transport’s driver.
3. Customs have the right to perform the customs examination of the goods and/or means of transport in the absence of their declarant, or the other persons in charge of the goods and/or means of transport, and/or their proxies in the following instances:
[1] said persons have failed to report to the customs office within the period stipulated by bi Item 1 of Article 129 of this Customs Code;
[2] said goods pose threat to national security, public order, human life and health, animals, plants, the environment, items of cultural value, as well as under other circumstances that brook no delay (including evident signs indicating that the goods comprise inflammable, explosive or toxic materials, dangerous chemical and biological substances, drugs, psychotropic, virulent, poisonous, toxic, radioactive substances, nuclear materials and other malodorant goods);
[3] posting of goods in international mail (Chapter 24);
[4] retention of goods and/or means of transport in the customs territory of the Russian Federation in violation of the applicable customs procedure stipulating exportation of such goods and/or means of transport from the customs territory of the Russian Federation.
In such instances customs examination of goods and/or means of transport shall be executed in the presence of witnesses.
4. In case customs officers have examined some of the goods, which were entered into the customs declaration under the same name, the results of said examination apply to all such goods contained in the customs declaration. The declarant or the other person responsible for the goods has the right to demand an additional examination of the remaining goods if he (or she) believes that the goods examination results cannot be applied to all the goods.
5. In case a customs examination of goods and means of transport has revealed that the actual quantity of goods does not tally with the goods quantity as stated in the customs declaration, customs authorities shall determined the quantity of goods on their own for customs clearance purposes.
6. Based on the results of the customs examination the customs authorities compile a goods examination record which is made in two copies. The goods customs examination record contains the following details:
- the information identifying the customs officers of the customs office who carried out the customs examination as well as the persons who attended said customs examination;
- the reasons for carrying out said customs examination in the absence of the declarant or the other person responsible for the goods and/or means of transport;
- the customs examination results.
The format of the customs examination report is approved by the Federal customs Authority.
The duplicate copy of the customs examination report shall be given to the person responsible for said goods and/or means of transport or to his (or her) proxy provided said person has been identified.
Article 373. Personal Search
1. A personal search constitutes an exclusive form of customs control measures which may be performed upon a resolution to that effect passed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy provided there is sufficient evidence to suppose that a specific natural person present in the customs control zone or in the airport international transit zone, who is crossing the State Border of the Russian Federation, conceals and refuses to surrender voluntarily the goods forbidden, respectively, for importation to or exportation from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, or the goods conveyed across the border in violation of the order prescribed by this Customs Code.
A resolution to conduct a personal search is made by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy by way of appending a written instruction to that effect onto the report submitted by the customs officer in charge. Such a resolution may also be issued in the form of a separate written instruction.
2. Before starting the search, the customs officer in charge shall inform the natural person concerned with regard to the resolution to perform a personal search thereof, explain to said natural person his (or her) rights and responsibilities during the search, and propose that said person voluntarily surrender the concealed goods.
The natural person concerned shall be obliged to append his (or her) signature to the document containing a resolution to subject him (or her) to a personal search in confirmation of his (or her) knowledge of said resolution.
3. Personal search is conducted by a customs officer of the same sex with the examined person in the presence of two witnesses in an isolated room meeting proper sanitary and hygienic standards.
Access to the search room of other natural persons ought to be precluded as much as any possibility to observe the performance of a personal search. Examination of the searched person’s body ought to be conducted by a certified physician who has no right to refuse to fulfil the resolution passed by the chief of the customs office or his deputy with regard to subjecting said person to a personal search.
In the instance when a natural person subjected to a personal search is underage or disabled, his (or her) lawful representatives (parents, stepparents, guardians and custodians) or the persons accompanying them have the right to attend the search procedure.
4. A personal search ought to be conducted in a polite manner excluding humiliation of the searched person’s dignity or damage to the person’s health or property within the limits required for detecting the goods concealed on the natural person concerned.
5. During the search procedure, the person concerned (his or her legitimate representative) shall be obliged to fulfil all lawful demands of the customs officer conducting the search. The search person has the right to:
- demand that the resolution with regard to conducting a search passed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy be announced to him (or her);
- be familiarised with his (or her) rights and obligations;
- provide explanations and submit petitions;
- examine the record of his (or her) personal search and make statements following the search termination which should be entered into the record;
- use his (or her) native language, as well as resort to an interpreter’s services;
- lodge complaint to the actions of customs officers following the search termination in case the searched person reasons that his (or her) lawful rights and interests have been infringed on in the process of conducting said personal search pursuant to the provisions of said Customs Code.
6. Based on the results of the personal search, the customs authorities compile a personal search record in accordance with the format approved by the Federal customs Authority.
The search record is signed by the customs officer responsible for the search, the natural person subjected to the personal search (his [or her] lawful representative), the witnesses thereof and the physician in case the search procedure included examination of the person’s body. The duplicate copy of the personal search report shall be given to the person subjected to the search (his [or her] lawful representative).
Article 374. Verification of Special Marking or Other Identification of Goods
1. The customs authorities verify presence and/or intactness presence of special identification facilities marking the goods (or their packaging) used for certifying the legality of their importation to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in the instances stipulated by federal laws and other legal statutes of the Russian Federation.
2. The absence on the goods or their packaging of requisite special marks or other identification facilities, as per Item 1 herein, shall be regarded as a confirmation of the fact that such goods have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation without the required customs registration and customs clearance procedures unless the carrier or the other person in possession of said goods proves the opposite.
Article 375. Customs Inspection of Rooms and Territories for Customs Control Purposes
1. The customs inspection of rooms and territories is performed with a view to verifying the inventory of goods in customs custody including the conditionally released goods stowed in temporary-storage warehouses, bonded warehouses, on the trading floor and in the storerooms of duty-free shops, as well as in possession of the persons who are obliged to preserve such goods in compliance with the terms and conditions stipulated by the customs procedures applicable to said goods pursuant to this Customs Code. The customs inspections of rooms and territories shall be conducted based on the information pertaining to losses of goods and/or means of transport, their alienation or disposal of by other methods, or their utilisation in violation of the terms and conditions stipulated by this Customs Code for verification of such information, as well as pursuant to the spot-check inspection principle.
2. The customs authorities may conduct inspections of rooms and territories, other than those specified in Item 1 herein, at the checkpoints established at the State Border of the Russian Federation, in the customs control zones along the customs territory of the Russian Federation, as well as at the premises of the persons involved in wholesale and retail trade operations with imported goods, based on the information specifying the location of in such rooms or at such territories of the goods and/or means of transport which have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in violation of the importation order stipulated by this Customs Code for verification of such information.
3. Customs inspections of living quarters are not permissible.
4. The customs authorities initiate inspection of rooms and territories upon producing the official order for such inspection signed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy and their identification cards. The register customs positions whose officers have authorised access such rooms and territories, as well as the form of their authorisation order are approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
In the instance when federal laws stipulate other provisions regulating the access of state officials to specific installations, the above customs officers will be given access to such installations in the order determined by the above federal laws.
5. In the event of denial of access to customs officers to the rooms and territories subject to customs inspections, the customs officers have the right to penetrate into such rooms or/and territories by way of overcoming offered resistance and by forcing the locks thereof in the presence of two witnesses, except the situations when federal laws stipulate other procedures for providing access of the state officials to specific installations. The customs authorities shall be obliged to inform the district prosecutor 24 hours in advance of all the instances when the customs officers’ penetration into the rooms and territories presupposes overcoming of resistance and forcing of the locks thereof.
6. The customs inspection of rooms and territories should be performed within the shortest possible time period required for its performance, and such an inspection may not least longer than 24 hours.
7. The customs inspection report shall be compiled in accordance with the form approved by the Federal Customs Authority. The duplicate copy of said report is handed to the person whose premises have been subjected to the customs inspection.
Article 376. Customs Revision
1. The customs authorities perform customs revisions which constitute a verification of the fact of release of the imported goods and the authenticity of information stated in the goods’ customs declaration and the other documents submitted to the customs authorities in the process of the customs registration. In the process of a customs revision, the customs authorities compare the details contained in said documents, the accounting and reporting information with the accounts and other information provided by the persons specified in this article below.
The forms of the customs revision may be general and special.
2. The customs authorities conduct the general customs revision of the declarants and the persons specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code who do not act in capacity of a declarant.
The general customs revisions are conducted upon a written resolution in that regard passed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy. A copy of said resolution is handed to the person subject to such an inspection before its commencement.
In the process of conducting the general customs inspection customs authorities, within the framework of their competence, shall have access to the databanks of the automated information systems of the person subject to the general revision with consideration of the requirements stipulated by the provisions of the law of the Russian Federation on protection of information.
The customs revision should be conducted within the minimal reasonable time period required for its performance, and it may not last longer than three working days. Said revision procedures should not impede the commercial or industrial activities of the person subjected to the revision.
Repetition of the customs revision with regard to the same goods is not permissible.
3. Subject to the special customs revision procedures conducted by the customs authorities may be the following persons:
- the persons specified in Item 2 herein in those instances when, based on the results of the general customs revision or application of other customs control methods stipulated by this Chapter, customs officers have revealed information indicative of falseness of some of the details submitted to the customs authorities in the process of the goods customs registration or during the goods utilisation or disposal of in violation of the established requirements and restrictions;
- the customs brokers (proxies), owners of the temporary-storage and bonded warehouses and customs carriers upon discovery of the evidence proving violations in the goods registration practices in the process of their conveyance across the customs border as well as the persons’ reporting thereof or breaches of other terms and conditions regulating the operations stipulated by the provisions of this Customs Code.
- the persons involved in wholesale and retail operations with imported goods in case the customs authorities have revealed evidence that said goods have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in violation of the terms and conditions set forth by this Customs Code, which violations have entailed breaches of the payment procedures stipulated for customs duties and taxes or non-observance of the restrictions and prohibitions established pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities.
Special customs revisions are conducted upon a written resolution in that regard passed by the chief of the customs office or his (or her) deputy. A copy of said resolution is handed to the person subject to the special inspection before its commencement.
4. In the process of the special customs revision, the customs authorities have the right to:
- demand free of charge submission of documents and information (including the persons’ banking information) and documents made in electronic format pertaining to the person’s industrial, commercial, and other operations with the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation and examine such information;
- inspect the rooms and territories belonging to the inspected person and conduct the goods customs inspection and examination in accordance with this Customs Code in the presence of authorised representatives of the person subjected to the special customs revision procedure or in the presence of two witnesses in the instance of the special customs revision of an individual entrepreneur;
- perform the goods inventory in accordance with the regulations stipulating the inventory procedures conducted by tax authority pursuant to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
- effect withdrawal of goods or sequester them as per Article 377 of this Customs Code.
5. The special customs revision should be conducted within the minimal possible time period required for its completion, and it may not last longer than two months from the date when a resolution authorising the special customs revision is passed by the customs authority in charge. The above revision period does not include the time elapsing from the moment of handing to the person concerned of the demand with regard to documents and information required for the revision until the moment when the person submits said information and documents to the customs authorities. In exclusive situations, the superior customs office has the right to extend the duration of the customs special revision by one additional month.
Repetition of the special customs revision of the same person is not permissible.
6. Customs revisions (in either special or general form) may only be applied to juridical persons and individual entrepreneurs.
7. For the purpose of conducting a customs revision (in either special or general form) the customs authorities may make use of the inventory results produced by the person with relevant powers with regard to said goods, by the person responsible for the goods storage, or by the supervisory bodies, as well as of the auditing conclusions, the deeds, and the conclusions made by the state authorities.
8. The results of a customs revision (in either special or general form) shall be compiled into a report the form of which is approved by the Federal Customs Authority. Said act shall be drawn up:
- on the day following the date of completion of the general customs revision;
- within ten days following the date of completion of the special customs revision.
The duplicate copy of the revision report shall be handed to then person subjected to the customs revision.
9. In the event when the customs revision (in either special or general form) has revealed evidence of a crime of an administrative violation in the field of customs procedure, the revision conducted with regard to the established lawbreakers shall be rescinded. In that situation the report on the revision results shall be compiled without delay. Further operations shall be effected by the customs authorities pursuant to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or the Law of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.
Article 377. Sequester or Withdrawal of a Goods in the Process of a Special Customs Revision
1. Goods may be subjected to sequester or withdrawal in the process of a special customs prevision procedures in the following situations:
[1] upon detection the imported goods without any special marks, symbols, or other facilities applied in accordance with this Customs Code, other federal laws, legal statutes and regulations of the Russian Federation for identifying said goods thereby certifying the legality of their importation to the customs territory of the Russian Federation, or the goods featuring counterfeit markings;
[2] the commercial documents of the person under special revision contain no details validating the goods release by the customs authorities provided the applicable legal statutes of the Russian Federation require the entry of such details as a mandatory provision for releasing said goods for free circulation in the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as in the instances when the customs authorities deem such entries fictitious or the commercial documents where such entries are made are missing;
[3] upon discovery of the facts of utilization and/or disposal of the conditionally released goods for the purposes other than those in for said goods were partially or completely exempted from the customs duties and taxes.
2. The sequestered goods are transferred for stowage to their owner or any other person who has proper powers with regards to said goods. The place of storage of such goods acquires the status of the customs control zone (Article 362). Usage or disposal of the sequestered goods may only be permitted by the chief of the customs office responsible for the performance of the special customs revision or by the person duly authorised by him (her). In such situation, transfer of the sequestered goods to other persons, their waste, alienation, or disposal of by any other means will be prohibited.
3. In case pursuant to the Russian legislation, the sequestered goods are prohibited for importation to the customs territory or circulation in the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as in the instance when the customs authorities have serious grounds to suppose that sequester of such goods would not provide sufficient guarantee of their preservation, they resolve to confiscate such goods.
The withdrawn goods are therefore stowed at the temporary-storage warehouse or at any other place with the status of a customs control zone.
4. Withdrawal or sequester of goods may be unnecessary in case the person, at whose premises such goods are discovered, presents a payment guarantee for the customs duties and taxes that may be charged on said goods, except the instances when law of the Russian Federation prohibits importation of such goods to the Russian Federation or their circulation therein, or when the goods were subjected to quantitative restrictions at the instance of their importation pursuant to the law of the Russian Federation on measures for protecting economic interests of the Russian Federation in foreign trade.
Computation of customs dues and taxes with the view to determining the amounts of requisite payment guarantees thereof shall be made in accordance with Article 248 of this Customs Code.
5. Withdrawal of goods and their sequester shall be executed based on a motivated resolution in that regard passed by a customs officer in charge of the special revision procedure in the presence of the person at whose premises said goods were discovered, or his (or her) representative, as well as in the present of two witnesses.
Whenever required, an expert may be invited for performing goods withdrawal or sequester (Article 356).
Prior to initiating the goods withdrawal or sequester procedure the customs officer in charge shall be obliged to produce to the person, whose goods are subject to withdrawal or sequester, the order mandating the withdrawal or sequester of said goods.
6. The fact of goods withdrawal and sequester shall be recorded in a formal report containing, as an attachment, the inventory of withdrawn or sequestered goods including the goods detailed description, their quantities and specific features. Said report shall be signed by the customs officer in charge of the withdrawal or sequester, the person whose goods have been withdrawn or sequestered or his (or her) representative, and the witnesses. A duplicate copy of said report shall be handed to the person at whose premises said goods were discovered, or his (or her) representative.
7. The return of withdrawn goods to their owner and their release from a sequester thereon is effected no later than on the date of termination of the special customs revision, except in those instances when said goods may be confiscated, used as material evidence or as the source of collection of the outstanding dutiable payments. The costs of stowing withdrawn goods at the temporary-storage warehouse shall be borne by the person whose goods have been withdrawn.
In case the special customs revision has not revealed any infringements on the customs legislation of the Russian Federation, the withdrawn goods shall be returned to their owner or the sequester thereon effected immediately whereas all the expenses incurred by the goods temporary storage shall be recompensed from the federal budget.
8. The disposal of withdrawn or sequestered goods shall be specified in the special customs revision report as per Item 8 of Article 376.
9. Disposal of unclaimed withdrawn goods shall be effected upon the expiry of two months following the termination of the special customs revision procedures in the order stipulated by Chapter 41 of this Customs Code.
Article 378. Purpose of Expert Analyses in Customs Control
1. Expert analysis of goods, means of transport, and the documents containing the information pertaining to said goods, means of transport or the operations (activities) associated with them shall be conducted in those instances when the customs control procedure requires special skills and knowledge for clarifying arising questions.
2. Expert analysis is conducted by expert staff of customs laboratories, as well as by the experts attracted from other specialised organisations, or the other experts appointed by customs authorities. Appointed as an expert may be any duly qualified person who has adequate skills and knowledge for drawing up an expert conclusion. Customs authorities recruit such experts for performing required expert analyses on a contractual basis. In case an expert analysis is initiated by an interested person, such a person has the right to submit to customs authorities his (or her) proposal with regard to the candidate expert.
3. In the instance when the necessity of an expert analysis has been acknowledged, the customs officer in charge, acting upon an approval passed by the chief of the customs office or the his deputy, shall draw up a resolution in that regard specifying the grounds for such expert analysis. Said resolution includes the expert’s full name, the name of the organisation where the assigned analysis is to be conducted, the questions to be resolved by the expert(s), the materials and the documents provided to the expert(s), as well as the time period assigned for performing said expert analysis and submitting the conclusion thereof to the customs authorities.
The above resolution also contains a clause of the expert’s administrative responsibility for a premeditated distortion of the analytical conclusion.
4. The time period of the expert analysis may not exceed:
- the time terms stipulated for the goods temporary storage (Article 103) in case the goods may not be released prior to the results of the ongoing expert analysis;
- six months if subject to said expert analysis are means of transport;
- one year, in other instances.
5. The customs officer shall be obliged to inform the declarant or the other person responsible for the goods, in case said person has been identified, with regard to the resolution to perform an expert analysis, and explain to said person his (or her) rights stipulated by Article 382 of this Customs Code which fact should be certified by an appropriate mark made by the person concerned or his (or her) representative.
6. The expenses incurred by the customs authorities, the customs laboratories and other experts and organisations responsible for the expert analyses shall be reimbursed from the federal budget, except for the expert analyses which were not initiated by the customs authorities.
Article 379. Expert’s Conclusions (Report)
1. The expert shall render his (or her) conclusions of the conducted investigation in a written report based on and with consideration of the achieved results.
2. The expert’s report should specify the time and place where the investigation was conducted, identify the person(s) who conducted the investigation and specify the reasons for it, list the questions posed before the expert, define the investigation objective(s), designate the documents and materials provided to the expert, explicate the contents and findings of the investigation including the methods applied in the course of the investigation, for the evaluation of its results, the expert’s conclusions with regard to the investigation objectives and their substantiation.
The materials and the documents supporting the conclusions made by the expert(s) should be attached thereto and remain its inseparable component.
Should the expert reveal any essential circumstances pertaining to the case under investigation which were not assigned to the expert for investigation, he (or she) will have the right to include those expert findings in the final conclusions.
3. When an expert investigation involves participation of several experts, the conclusions thereof shall be signed by all experts. If case of a disagreement among the experts, each of them shall draw and submit his (or her) conclusions separately.
4. The customs office that initiated the expert investigation shall be obliged to hand a duplicate copy of the export investigation report (conclusions) to the declarant or the other persons responsible for the goods and means of transport, provided such persons have been identified, or advise the declarant that such conclusions cannot be drawn.
5. In the process of decision making, the customs authorities shall take into consideration the conclusions with regard to the investigations drawn by the expert(s), as well as the conclusions of the expert investigations initiated by he declarant or another interested person.
Article 380. Additional and Second Expert Analysis
1. In case the available conclusions are not sufficiently clear or comprehensive, the customs authorities have the right to appoint an additional expert analysis which may be assigned to the same or other exports or expert organisations.
2. In case the export conclusions are unsubstantiated or there are reasons to doubt their correctness, the customs authorities may assign a second expert analysis to be conducted by another expert.
3. The additional and the second expert analyses are assigned and conducted pursuant to Articles 378 and 379 of this Customs Code.
Article 381. Expert’s Rights and Responsibility
1. An expert has right to:
[1] examine the materials pertaining to the subject of the investigation;
[2] upon permission of the customs authorities, to attract other exports for conducting the assigned expert analysis;
[3] request additional materials requisite for conducting the assigned expert analysis;
[4] refuse to draw conclusions if the expert deems insufficient the materials and information provided to him (or her), in the instance the expert has to acknowledge that his (or her) skills and experience are insufficient for conducting the assigned expert analysis. The expert’s written report substantiating his (or her) incapability to draw the conclusion shall be submitted to the customs office that assigned said expert analysis;
[5] upon permission of the customs authorities, to participate in various activities in the process of effecting the customs control measures.
2. The information obtained in the process of expert investigation or during preparations for its conduct which constitutes commercial, banking or any other secret protected by law, as well as any other confidential information should not be revealed or used of any other purposes, or be transferred to a third person, except in the instances stipulated by federal laws.
Article 382. Rights of the Declarant and Other Persons Responsible for Goods and Means of transport and Their Representatives upon Resolution to Conduct Expert Analysis (Investigation)
1. In case the export analysis (investigation) has been assigned, the declarant or another person responsible for the goods and/or means of transport and their representatives have a right:
1) to state a motivated demurrage of an expert;
2) to request appointment of a specific expert or organisation;
3) to request assignment to the export of additional questions with regard to obtaining the expert conclusions thereto;
4) upon permission of the customs office that assigned the expert investigation, to be present during the expert analysis procedures and provide explanations to the expert;
5) to take the goods samples and specimens (Article 383);
6) to be familiarised with the expert conclusions or the expert’s statement with regard to his (or her) incapability to draw the conclusion and obtain a duplicate copy of said conclusion or statement;
7) to request an additional or a second expert analysis.
2. In case the request made by the declarant or another person responsible for the goods and/or means of transport or by their representatives has been satisfied, the customs office in charge of the expert investigation shall pass a requisite resolution in that regard.
In case said request has been declined, the customs officer in charge of the expert investigation shall be obliged to hand a motivated written response to that effect to the person who made such a request.
Article 383. Samples and Specimens
1. In the process of customs control procedures, the customs authorities have the right to take samples and specimens of the goods required for investigation. The fact of samples and specimens shall be formalised in a report made in accordance with the form approved by the Federal Customs Authority. The duplicate copy of said report is handed in to the person responsible for the goods, provided said person has been identified.
Whenever necessary the specimens and samples will be taken with participation of an expert or a specialist.
2. Specimens and samples of the goods in customs custody may also be taken by declarants, by persons with proper powers with regard to said goods and their representatives specified in Item 1 of Article 398 of this Customs Code and the employees of other state agencies.
3. Samples and specimens shall be taken in the minimal quantities providing their investigation.
The authorisation for taking samples and specimens may be issued to the persons specified in Item 2 herein provided such taking:
- does not impede pursuance of the customs control procedures;
- does not affect the goods properties;
- is not conducive to evasions of dutiable payments or non-observance of the restrictions and prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities.
4. A separate customs declaration will not be submitted with regard to the taken samples and specimens provided said samples are entered in the customs declaration for the imported goods.
A declarant has the right to reduce the customs value of the declared goods by the customs value of the taken samples and specimens in case said samples and specimens were seized by the customs office and not returned within the specified time period.
5. The declarants and the other persons responsible for the goods and their representatives have the right to be present at the instance of taking of samples and/or specimens of the goods by customs officers and employees of other state agencies.
6. Customs officers have the right to be present at the instance of taking of samples and/or specimens of the goods employees of other state agencies, as well as the other persons specified in Item 2 herein.
7. Declarants and their representatives shall be obliged to provide assistance to customs officers when the latter take samples and specimens of goods including the performance at their expense of cargo-handling and other operations with goods.
8. Customs officers shall be entitled to take samples in the absence of the declarant and his (or her) representatives in the instances stipulated by Item 3 of Article 372 of this Customs Code. Taking of samples and specimens in such situations shall be performed in the presence of at least two witnesses.
9. The customs authorities should be informed of the results of the conducted investigation of the samples and specimens taken by employees of other state agencies and notify about them they persons specified in Item 2 herein.
10. The order of taking samples and specimens of goods, as well as their investigation procedures are approved by the Federal Customs Authority in accordance with this Customs Code and other legal statutes of the Russian Federation.
11. Upon completion of the investigation, the samples and specimens will be returned to the goods owner, except in those instances when such samples and specimens are subject to destruction or utilization in accordance with Russian legislation, as well as in the instances when the expenses for return of the samples and specimens to their owner exceed their value.
Article 384. Participation of a Specialist in Customs Control Procedures
1. Whenever required, an unbiased specialist possessing special knowledge and skills, which are required for rendering assistance to the customs authorities in the process of customs control procedures, may be invited for participating in specific activities including those involving use of various technical facilities.
2. Invitation of a person to participate in customs control procedures in capacity of an expert is effected on a contractual basis.
3. The invited specialists will have the following rights:
[1] to examine the materials relating to the subject of the activities performed with his immediate participation;
[2] upon permission of the customs officer in charge, to question the other participants of such actions on the issues pertaining to the substance of said actions;
[3] to examine the documents drown up based on the results of the actions performed in the process of customs control procedures, in which said specialist was taking part, and make statements and comments with regard to the actions performed by him (or her) liable for recording in such documents.
4. The specialist shall be obliged:
[1] to participate in the actions requires special knowledge and/or skills, and make comments with regard to the actions performed by his (or her);
[2] to append his (or her) signature for certifying the fact of performance such actions, their contents and outcome.
5. The information obtained by the specialist in the process of his (or her) involvement in the customs control procedures constituting commercial, banking, or any other secrets protected by law, as well as any other confidential information shall not be made public, used for other purposes, transferred to a third party, except in those instances stipulated by the statutes of federal law.
6. The expenses incurred by the customs authorities in connection with the invitation of a specialist shall be reimbursed from the federal budget except the instances when the expert was invited an interested person rather than the customs authorities.
Article 385. Attraction of Specialists from other State Agencies for Assisting in Customs Control Procedures
1. In accordance with the Russian legislation, the customs authorities have the right to attract specialists from the law-enforcement or supervisory agencies for rendering them assistance in the process of customs control procedures.
2. The expenses incurred by the customs authorities in connection with the attraction of specialists from other state agencies, in case such activities performed by them do not comply with their lines of duty, shall be reimbursed in the order determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Article 386. Exemption from Specific Forms of Customs Control
1. Exemption of persons from specific forms of customs control procedures exercised by the customs authorities shall be effected pursuant to the provisions of this Customs Code.
2. Exempt from customs examination shall be the personal luggage of the incumbent President of the Russian Federation, the personal luggage of the former President of the Russian Federation, and the personal luggage of their accompanying family members.
3. The personal luggage of members of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the personal luggage of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and that of the judges enjoying immunity in accordance with law of the Russian Federation shall be exempted from customs examination in those instances when said persons cross the State Border of the Russian Federation in the line of their duty or other official duties.
4. Foreign naval ships (vessels), combat aircraft, and self-propelled military hardware shall be exempt from customs inspection.
5. Exemption from specific forms of customs control procedures in accordance with international treaties, of which the Russian Federation is party, shall be enforced following the ratification of said treaties by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
6. The head of the Federal Customs Authority or his deputy has the right to exempt individual persons, specific goods, and means of transport from various forms of customs control procedures when such exemptions are predicated on the interests of security of the Russian Federation.
Article 387. Persons Database
1. Collection of information on the persons whose operations are associated with conveyance of goods and/or means of transport across the customs border or on the persons involved various customs-related activities (Article 3) is effected by the customs authorities in the process of customs control procedures and customs registration of goods and means of transport conveyed across the customs border in the instances and in accordance with the requirements stipulated by this Customs Code.
2. With a view to conducting customs control procedures and levying dutiable payments the customs authorities have the right to accumulate the following information with regard to juridical and natural persons:
- the founders or a company and juridical entity;
- the state registration of a juridical person as an individual entrepreneur;
- composition of the inventory engaged in the person’s entrepreneurial activities;
- available bank accounts;
- peculiarities of the person’s foreign economic activities;
- location of a company and juridical person;
- the taxpayer’s registration of a company and juridical person in the Register of the State Tax Authority including the person’s individual taxpayer identification numbers;
- solvency of the persons included in the Registers of the persons involved in customs-related activities;
- with regard to natural persons, the citizen’s personal details (full name [surname, first name and patronymic name], the place and date of birth, sex, residence address, the individual taxpayer identification number [if available], as well as frequency of conveyance of goods across the customs border.
3. The persons specified in Item 1 herein have the right to access the above documentary information thereon in possession of the customs authorities as well as to update such information in order to improve its accuracy and authenticity. The customs authorities shall be obliged to provide such access to persons free of charge.
Article 388. Use of Technical Facilities during Customs Control Procedures. Use of Patrol Boats for Exercising Customs Control Procedures
1. With a view to shortening the duration of customs control formalities, further optimising the procedures and enhancing their efficiency the customs authorities may apply various technical facilities whose register is approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
2. The said technical facilities should be harmless for human life and health.
3. The customs control formalities with the goods and means of transport within the territorial seas and interior waters of the Russian Federation, as well as in the territories adjacent to the customs border, are effected with the use of seagoing (river) patrol boats and the aircraft in service with the customs authorities.
4. The use of customs seagoing (river) patrol boats and the aircraft for customs control purposes shall be determined by the Government of the Russian Federation in accordance with the provisions of this Customs Code.
Article 389. Cargo-Handling and Other Operations with Goods and Means of Transport Required for Customs Control Procedures
1. Upon the customs authorities’ request, a declarant, owner of a temporary-storage or bonded warehouse, customs broker, or any other persons responsible for goods shall be obliged to haul, weigh or perform other operation for determining the goods quantity, effect the goods loading, unloading, transhipment, correction of damaged packaging thereof, opening of the packaging, packaging, and repackaging of the goods under customs control, as well as open the rooms, containers, and other places where said goods are located or may be stowed.
2. The Carrier shall be obliged to assist the performance of cargo-handling or other operations with the goods and/or with means of transport conveyed across the customs border.
Article 390. Identification of Goods and Means of Transport
1. Identification of the goods and means of transport under customs control or in customs custody may be effected by the application of seals, stamps, alphanumeric and other markings, special identification marks, shipment documents (waybills), commercial and other documents, the appended stamps and seals, the goods reference samples and specimens, detailed descriptions of goods and means of transport, the goods drawings, scale-down representations and photographic images, illustrations, and have other identification facilities.
2. The means of identification may only be destroyed or changed (altered) by the customs authorities or upon their express permission, except in those instances of a threat of destruction, loss, or essential damage pending to goods and/or means of transport. The customs office concerned shall be immediately notified of every instance of change, removal, destruction or damage of the goods identification marks and provided proofs of pending threat thereto. Any instance of a change, removal, destruction or replacement of the goods identification mark should be reflected in a report drawn up in accordance with the form approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
3. The provisions of Item 2 herein shall apply to those instances when used as identification facilities are the seals, stamps, and other identification marks appended by the customs authorities of foreign countries.
4. Upon a declarant’s request, the customs authorities shall effect identification of the Russian goods declared for exportation from the customs territory of the Russian Federation at the place of declaration of said goods.
Article 391. Additional Powers of Customs Offices upon Discovery of Goods Illegally Imported to the Customs Territory of the Russian Federation
1. In case customs officers discover goods illegally conveyed across the customs border of the Russian Federation, which entailed non-payment by the carrier of the customs duties and taxes payable thereto or non-observance of the restrictions and prohibitions established pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities, said goods, had they been acquired by persons in the line of their entrepreneurial activities, shall be subject to sequestering or confiscation and shall be stowed at a temporary-storage warehouse pursuant to the stipulations of Article 377 of this Customs Code with regard to goods withdrawal or sequestering in the process of customs revision procedures. For customs clearance purposes, such goods shall be regarded as in customs custody.
2. The persons specified in Item 1 herein, shall be have the right to make their dutiable payments as per Article 327 of this Customs Code and fulfil the other terms and conditions of the goods simplified customs registration procedure approved by the Federal Customs Authority.
Note: in such a situation, the goods are not withdrawn in case the persons responsible for the goods have paid the dutiable payments not later than in five days from the date of discovery of said goods, or provide a guarantee for the dutiable payments thereto in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 31 of this Customs Code. Penalty fees shall not be charged onto the said amounts of dutiable payments.
3. The provisions of Item 2 herein with regard to the persons’ rights to make dutiable payments and complete customs registration of the goods which have been illegally imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation shall not be apply to the goods prohibited for importation to the Russian Federation, the goods whose turnover is prohibited according to law of the Russian Federation, as well as the goods subject to quantitative restrictions as per their importation pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities.
4. In the instance of making dutiable payments and undergoing customs registration formalities by the persons specified in Item 1 herein, such goods shall be regarded for customs clearance purposes as the goods released for free circulation which fact does not prevent the customs authorities to conduct the actions required for identifying the persons involved in illegal conveyance of goods across the customs border.
5. In case the person, who have purchased the goods that were illegally imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation, refuse to make dutiable payments and complete the requisite customs registration formalities, disposal of said goods shall be effected based on Article 352 of this Customs Code. The goods specified in Item 3 herein shall be converted into the federal based on the ruling passed by the court of justice or arbitration tribunal upon a lawsuit lodged by the customs authorities concerned.
Article 392. Application of Customs Control Results for Proceedings of Administrative Offences in Civil and Criminal Cases
The customs control results formalised in accordance with the provisions stipulated by Part IV of this Customs Code may be accepted as evidence in the process of consideration by court of criminal, civil, and administrative offences. The customs control results shall be subject to appraisal by the court of justice, the arbitration tribunal or the officials responsible for resolving such cases as well as the persons’ complains to a decision, action (inaction) of customs offices and their officers, or the cases with regard to various economic disputes addressed by the arbitration tribunal alongside the other evidence stipulated by the criminal procedural law of the Russian Federation, the law of the Russian Federation on proceedings in the arbitration tribunal, or the law of the Russian Federation on administrative offences.
Article 393. Grounds for Suspending Goods Release
1. This Chapter stipulates that based on a statement made by the holder of exclusive rights (intellectual property) to the products protected by copyright or shared right thereto, the rights to the brand names, trademarks, as well as the holder of a franchise to use the goods place of origin (hereinafter, rights-holder), the customs authorities will undertake requisite measures for suspending the release of such goods. The measures stipulated herein shall be undertaken in the process of conveyance of said goods across the customs border or performance of other actions with the goods in customs custody.
2. The measure undertaken by the customs authorities pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall not impede other measures the rights holder may resort to for ensuring protection of his (or her) rights in accordance with law of the Russian Federation.
Article 394. Rights-Holder’s Statement and Its Consideration Procedure
1. The rights-holder, who has sufficient grounds to deduce a possibility of an infringement upon his (or her) rights, as stipulated by law of the Russian Federation on protection of intellectual property due to conveyance across the border of the goods, which the rights-holder deems counterfactual, or performance of other actions with said goods under customs control, has the right to apply to the Federal Customs Authority with a request to take measures for suspending the release of such goods. Such a statement may be made on the rights-holder’s behalf or his (or her) representative.
2. The statement containing a request to take measures for suspending release of goods should contain the following details:
- information on the rights-holder, or on his (or her) representative if the statement is made by the rights-holder’s representative;
- information on the intellectual property object;
- information on the goods that the rights-holder deems counterfactual which should contain sufficient details for enabling the customs authorities to identify such goods;
- information on the time terms throughout which the customs authorities are requested to take measures pursuant to this Chapter.
The statement containing a request to the customs authorities to take measures for suspending a release of goods should be supplemented by the documents confirming the person’s rights to said object of intellectual property (certificates, agreements [including a licence agreement] with regard to the transference of the person’s exclusive rights, as well as any other documents which the rights-holder may opt to present for authenticating his [or her] rights to said intellectual property objects); in case such a statement is made by the rights-holder’s representative, it should be supplemented by a formal power of attorney issued by the rights-holder and authorising said representative to act on the rights-holder’s behalf.
The rights-holder (or his /or her) representative) may also attach to the statement the goods specimens proving the fact of infringement upon his (or her) rights.
3. The statement submission order and the requirements to the information contained therein, depending on the category of intellectual property in question, are determined by the Federal Customs Authority.
4. The statement should also contain the rights-holder’s written obligation to compensate any damage to the property rights that may be inflicted on the goods declarant, owner, recipient or the person specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code due to the suspension of the goods release.
5. The Federal Customs Authority considers such applications within one month from the date of their submission and passes resolutions with regard to the undertaking the measures stipulated by this Chapter or refusing to undertake such measures.
With a view to verifying the authenticity of the information provided by the rights-holder or his (or her) representative, the Federal Customs Authority has the right to request reference information and documents from the third parties as well as from the state bodies confirming the submitted information. Those persons shall be obliged to furnish the requested documents within ten days from the day they receive such a request from said customs office.
Note: the customs office has the right to extend the period of consideration of the application, but for not more than two months from the date of its acceptance.
A resolution to deny the rights-holder the measures stipulated herein will be passed in case the rights-holder (or his/or her representative) has presented to the customs authorities fictitious information or failed to observe the requirements stipulated by Item 2 of Article 395 of this Customs Code .
The rights-holder (or his/or her representative) are notified about such resolution in writing within three days from the date of its passage.
6. In the event of any changes of the information details contained in the statement or in the documents attached thereto, the rights-holder (or his/or her representative) shall be obliged to advise the Federal Customs Authority in that regard without delay.
Article 395. Customs Register of Intellectual Property Objects
1. The intellectual property objects, in whose regard the Federal Customs Authority resolves to take measures stipulated by this Chapter, are entered in the Customs Register of Intellectual Property Objects (hereinafter, the Register). Entry of intellectual property objects into the Register is free of charge.
This Register is kept by the Federal Customs Authority in accordance with order determined by this said Authority.
2. An intellectual property object will be entered into the Register provided its rights-holder guarantees the fulfilment of the other obligations pursuant to Item 4 of Article 394 of this Customs Code by the methods stipulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The intellectual rights-holder has the right to substitute the security ensuring the fulfilment of the above obligations by submitting a risk-insurance agreement covering the person’s liability for any damage caused to the persons specified in Item 4 of Article 394 of this Customs Code. The overall security sum of said obligation or the insurance premium should amount to at least 500,000 roubles.
3. The intellectual property object shall be excluded from the Register in the following instances:
- upon an express wish to that effect by the rights-holder (or his / or her representative);
- in case the rights-holder has failed to fulfil the terms and conditions stipulated by Item 2 herein;
- upon the expiry of the term of legal protection of the intellectual property object;
- in case the rights-holder has not applied to the office authorised by law of the Russian Federation with a request to secure protection of his (or her) rights within the period when the goods reseals was suspended (Article 397).
4. The Federal Customs Authority shall publish the list of intellectual property objects included in the Register in its official releases.
Article 396. Terms of Application of Measures by the Customs Authorities in case of Suspension of Goods Release
The time terms within which the customs authorities are obliged to undertake measures predicated on suspension of the goods release shall be determined based on an application in that regard made by the rights-holder (his / or her reprehensive) for not more than five years from the date of entry of said intellectual property object into the Register. This period may be extended on the basis of the rights-holder application (or his / or her representative) provided all the terms and conditions stipulated by Article 394 and Item 2 of Article 395 of this Customs Code have been observed.
The time limits, within which the customs authorities are obliged to take measures associated with suspension of goods release, may not exceed the time terms stipulated for legal protection of intellectual property objects.
Article 397. Suspension of Goods Release
1. In case the customs control procedure exercised by the customs authorities has revealed the goods which the rights-holder (or his / or her representative) claims to be as counterfactual, the release of such goods shall be suspended for the period of ten working days. Upon a motivated request made by the rights-holder (or his / or her representative), said suspension period may be extended for maximum ten additional working days provided said person has made a formal application to the respective authority stipulated by the Russian legislation with a request to protect the rights-holder rights.
A resolution with regard to the suspension of goods release and extension of the suspension period is passed in writing by the chief of the customs office concerned or his n(or her) deputy.
2. The customs office shall be obliged to notify both the declarant and the rights-holder (his / or her representative) about the imposed suspension on goods release not later than on the day following the date of enactment of said suspension specifying the reasons and terms of said suspension. In addition, the declarant is informed of the name (the surname, the first name and the patronymic name) and the address details of the rights-holder (his / or her representative). The rights-holder (or his /or her representative) is informed of the name (the surname, the first name and the patronymic name) and address details of the declarant.
3. In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the rights-holder shall bear responsibility for any property damage inflicted on the goods’ declarant, owner, recipient, or the persons specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, as a result of suspension of the goods release procedures pursuant to this Chapter unless, based on the order stipulated by law of the Russian Federation, said goods (including their packaging and labels) have been found as counterfactual.
Article 398. Submission of Information. Goods Samples and Specimens
1. Upon a written permission issues by the customs office in charge, the rights-holder and the declarant (their representatives) have the right to take samples and specimens of the goods under customs control whose release has been suspended, conduct the research thereof, as well as inspect, take photographs, or otherwise identify said goods.
2. Upon a request made by the goods rights-holder (his / or her representative), the customs office may furnish additional information which may be required by the rights-holder for proving his (or her) claim of his (or her) rights violation except the instances stipulated by federal law.
3. The information obtained by the rights-holder (his / or her representative) or a declarant pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall be regarded as confidential and should not be revealed or transferred to any third parties, including the state bodies, except in the instances stipulated by federal law.
Article 399. Cancellation of Goods Release Resolution
1. In case the authorities duly empowered in accordance with the Russian legislation have not enacted the goods withdrawal, sequester or confiscation prior to the expiry of the term of suspension of said goods release, the resolution suspending the release of said goods shall be revoked on the day following the date of expiry the term of suspension of the goods release.
2. The resolution suspending release of goods shall be revoked prior to the expiry the term of suspension endorsed by customs authorities for the goods release in the following instances:
[1] the right-holder (his / or her representative) has applied to the customs office with a request to rescind the resolution suspending the release of goods;
[2] the intellectual property object has been excluded from the Register.
3. The resolution suspending release of goods shall be revoked on the day when the customs authorities become aware of the grounds stipulated by Item 2 herein.
4. Cancellation of the resolution suspending release of goods shall be enacted in writing by the chief of the customs office who passed said resolution or by the person substituting him (or her). Following the cancellation of said resolution, the goods release shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions stipulated by Chapter 16 of this Customs Code.
Article 400. Goods Exempted from Release Suspension Measures Applied by the Customs Authorities
The customs authorities shall not apply the measures stipulated by the resolution suspending release of goods pursuant to the provisions of this Article to the goods containing intellectual property objects conveyed across the customs border by natural persons or posted by international mail in insignificant quantities provided such goods are intended for personal, family, household or other use unrelated to entrepreneurial activities.
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