Cheap European wines could disappear from local shelves next month, industry experts warned, with the price for a bottle of wine from France, Italy, Spain or Germany set to rise 150 to 200 rubles ($5 to $7) because of new customs regulations. The Federal Customs Service raised the minimum price on imported bottles of European wine on June 1, but Russian suppliers have kept quiet until now — their stock of cheap wine is running out.
On returning to Russia, travellers can now bring more tax-free goods with them thanks to new regulations agreed by customs officials. Russia, along with Customs Union partners Belarus and Kazakhstan, has agreed to up the duty-free value to the equivalent of 10,000 euros. But shopaholics stocking up on trips to Europe, America or Dubai will still have ensure their bag doesn’t tip the scales beyond 35 kg.
Customs offices on the world's longest continuous land border, between Russia and Kazakhstan, will be closed indefinitely starting Friday as a new international free-trade zone comes to fruition. The finishing touch in their customs union — which includes these two countries and Belarus — removed the last internal customs controls at their borders, scrapping any obstacles for the flow of most goods within their boundaries.
Watching the current euro-zone crisis unfold, Russians can proudly say they eliminated their public debt. By contrast, the euro-zone decision makers have made nearly every conceivable mistake, and they keep repeating them. Their blunders highlight many of the lessons that Russia learned during its financial crisis in 1998.
Until January 1, 2011, works and services relating to the production and sale of goods under the customs regimes of export or of a free customs zone were subject to 0 percent tax under Paragraph 1, Sub-item 2, Item 1 of Article 164 of the Tax Code. Paragraph 2 of the sub-item, which stipulates 0 percent value-added tax on the works and services of a customs convoy and the transportation and shipment of imported and/or exported goods, did not specify the customs regime for the importation and/or exportation of such goods, unlike the first paragraph of the sub-item. Consequently, this resulted in ambiguity in interpreting the provision of the sub-item.
Even in the contemporary world, the most ancient of trading and customs issues can still arise, leading to moments where law abiding traders find themselves with quantities of goods requiring customs clearance, which their documentation does not explain.
The acronym WTO stands for a number of things: World Tourism Organisation, World Toilet Organisation, oh and World Trade Organisation. Given the palpable lack of urgency in Russia’s negotiations to join the WTO it might as well mean, “What’s this organisation?” Talks have meandered for the better part of two decades. With the target in sight, Russia appears to be raising new obstacles to its own membership.
Parallel import issues in Russia are currently considered among the most opaque and confusing issues in Russian legal practice. One of the milestones was the Porsche case that was the first case where administrative liability imposed for gray (parallel) importation was challenged by the Supreme Arbitration Court. The position of the Supreme Arbitration Court in Russia is obviously taken into account by lower level arbitration courts all across the country, which take their lead from its precedent. Since the majority of parallel import disputes are considered within the system of arbitration courts, the outcome of the Porsche case had and will continue having a substantial impact on local court practice.
Since 2005, foreign manufacturers have operated in Russia's auto industry on specific conditions and have been subject to certain privileges. But, about three years ago, the Industry and Trade Ministry decided to modify these and, in late 2010, got the Economic Development Ministry to approve the basics for new industrial assembly rules for car manufacturers. The new rules were published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Feb. 4, 2011.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been remarkably cold since Viktor Yanukovych was elected president a year ago. It has been a long time since we saw the friendly hugs of Yanukovych and President Dmitry Medvedev.
