Documents for Customs Clearance in Russia & and the EAEU: A Legal Guide

August 31, 2023

BRACE Law Firm ©

Moving goods across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) became significantly simpler regarding customs clearance and procedures after the creation of the Union.

However, moving goods across the EAEU customs border requires the execution of customs documents. These include customs declarations and other documents prepared exclusively for customs operations and customs control, as well as those generated during or based on the results of such operations and control.

Pursuant to Article 80 of the EAEU Customs Code, persons defined by the Code must submit documents and (or) information required under the EAEU Customs Code to customs authorities to perform customs operations. Specifically, the declarant shall: [1]

• perform customs declaration of goods;
• submit documents confirming information stated in the customs declaration to the customs authority in cases provided for by the EAEU Customs Code;
• present declared goods in cases provided for by the EAEU Customs Code or upon the request of the customs authority;
• pay customs payments, special duties, antidumping duties, and countervailing duties, or ensure the fulfillment of the obligation to pay them in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code;
• comply with the conditions for using goods in accordance with the customs procedure or conditions established for the use of specific categories of goods not subject to customs procedures under the EAEU Customs Code;
• fulfill other requirements provided for by the EAEU Customs Code. [2]

Customs authorities may only demand those documents and (or) information necessary to ensure compliance with international treaties and acts in the field of customs regulation, the laws of Member States on customs regulation, and legislation for which customs authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance, provided that the submission of such documents is required under the EAEU Customs Code. [3]

A declarant's failure to provide documents (information) justifying the declared customs value of goods does not, in itself, allow the customs authority to decide to amend (supplement) the customs value information stated in the customs declaration, provided that the declarant faced objective obstacles in providing the requested documents (information) and provided corresponding explanations to the customs authority. [4]

The EAEU Customs Code establishes the list of documents and (or) information necessary for customs operations, as well as the method and deadlines for their submission. [5] For example:

• Article 104 of the EAEU Customs Code establishes that goods are subject to customs declaration when placed under a customs procedure or in other cases established by the EAEU Customs Code;
• pursuant to Article 105(1) of the EAEU Customs Code, a goods declaration is the type of customs declaration used during customs declaration;
• under Article 111(8) of the EAEU Customs Code, a customs declaration becomes a document evidencing facts of legal significance upon its registration;
• pursuant to Article 84(2)(2) of the EAEU Customs Code, among other things, the declarant must submit documents confirming information stated in the customs declaration to the customs authority in cases provided for by the Code;
• under Article 106(1)(7) of the EAEU Customs Code, a goods declaration must, among other things, specify information on compliance with prohibitions and restrictions in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code;
• Article 340(6) of the EAEU Customs Code establishes that the declarant, carrier, persons engaged in activities in the field of customs, and other persons must submit documents and (or) information required for customs control to customs authorities in oral, written, and (or) electronic forms;
• pursuant to Article 340(3) of the EAEU Customs Code, the deadline set by a customs authority in a request (demand) for the submission of documents and (or) information may be extended based on a reasoned application from the person to whom the request (demand) was sent, including for the restoration of lost documents. The extension period is determined based on the person's application but must not exceed two months from the date the original deadline expired;
• under Article 332 of the EAEU Customs Code, an office customs audit is conducted by studying and analyzing information contained in customs declarations and (or) commercial, transport (shipping), and other documents submitted by the audited person during customs operations or upon the request of customs authorities, documents and information from state authorities of Member States, and other documents and information available to customs authorities regarding the audited person;
• Article 340 of the EAEU Customs Code determines that when conducting customs control, customs authorities may request, and in cases established by the EAEU Customs Code, demand that the declarant, carrier, persons engaged in activities in the field of customs, and other persons submit documents and (or) information required for customs control, and set a deadline for their submission that must be sufficient to provide the requested (demanded) documents and (or) information.

Cases Where Documents May Not Be Submitted to the Customs Authority

Documents and (or) information necessary for customs operations may not be submitted to the customs authority during such operations if the customs authorities can obtain information about such documents, information from them, or other information required for customs operations from the information systems of customs authorities or state authorities (organizations) of Member States within the framework of information interaction.[6] In such cases, the persons defined by the EAEU Customs Code specify information about these documents and (or) information in the customs declaration or submit them to customs authorities by another method in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code.

To implement this provision, information regarding the ability of customs authorities to obtain information about documents required for customs operations from such information systems is made public by posting it on the official websites of customs authorities on the Internet and (or) by other means of information dissemination.

Customs Declaration for Moving Goods Across the EAEU Customs Border

A customs declaration is a customs document containing information about goods and other information necessary for the release of goods. [7] The following types of customs declarations are used:

• goods declaration;
• transit declaration;
• passenger customs declaration;
• vehicle declaration.

A goods declaration is used when placing goods under customs procedures, except for the customs transit procedure, and in cases provided for by the EAEU Customs Code—when declaring stores.

A transit declaration is used when placing goods under the customs transit procedure.

A passenger customs declaration is used when declaring goods for personal use, and in cases provided for by the EAEU Customs Code — when placing goods for personal use under the customs transit procedure.

A vehicle declaration is used when declaring international transport vehicles, and in cases provided for by the EAEU Customs Code — when declaring stores.

The forms of the customs declaration, the structures and formats of electronic customs declarations and electronic versions of paper customs declarations, and the procedures for completing them are determined by the EEC depending on the types of customs declaration, customs procedures, categories of goods, and the persons moving them across the EAEU customs border:

• Decision of the Customs Union Commission No. 257 dated May 20, 2010, On the Form of Goods Declaration and the Procedure for Its Completion;
• Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 142 dated August 28, 2018, On Customs Declaration of Goods Delivered by a Carrier as Express Cargo Using a Goods Declaration;
• Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 124 dated July 23, 2019, On Customs Declaration of Goods for Personal Use;
• Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 158 dated October 16, 2018, On Customs Declaration of Goods for Personal Use Delivered by a Carrier as Express Cargo Using a Passenger Customs Declaration;
• Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 73 dated May 30, 2023, On Approval of the Transit Declaration Form and the Procedure for Its Completion, and on Amending and Repealing Certain Decisions of the Customs Union Commission and the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. [8]

The goods declaration must include information regarding:

1. The declared customs procedure.
2. The declarant, customs representative, sender, recipient, seller, and buyer of the goods.
3. International transport vehicles, as well as vehicles used (to be used) to transport goods across the EAEU customs territory.
4. The goods:

• name and description required to calculate and collect customs payments, special duties, antidumping duties, countervailing duties, and other payments collected by customs authorities; to ensure compliance with prohibitions and restrictions and market protection measures; to enable customs authorities to take measures to protect intellectual property rights; for identification; and for classification under a single 10-digit TN VED code;
• goods code in accordance with the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity;
• origin of goods;
• names of the country of departure and the country of destination;
• manufacturer of goods;
• trademark;
• name of the place of origin of the goods, being an intellectual property object included in the unified customs register of intellectual property objects of Member States and (or) the national customs register of intellectual property objects maintained by the customs authority of the Member State to which the goods declaration is submitted;
• description of packaging;
• price, quantity in kilograms (gross weight and net weight), and in supplementary units of measurement;
• customs value of goods (amount and method of determining the customs value);
• statistical value.

5. The calculation of customs payments, special duties, antidumping duties, and countervailing duties:
   • rates of customs duties, taxes, customs fees, special duties, antidumping duties, and countervailing duties;
   • customs payment benefits;
   • tariff preferences;
   • amounts of calculated customs duties, taxes, customs fees, special duties, antidumping duties, and countervailing duties;
   • the exchange rate used to calculate customs duties, taxes, special duties, antidumping duties, and countervailing duties in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code.
6. The transaction involving the goods and its terms.
7. Compliance with prohibitions and restrictions in accordance with Article 7 of the EAEU Customs Code.
8. Compliance with the conditions for placing goods under a customs procedure.
9. Documents confirming information stated in the goods declaration, as specified in Article 108 of the EAEU Customs Code.
10. Documents confirming compliance with the legislation of Member States, for which customs authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance.
11. The person who completed the goods declaration and the date of its preparation.
12. Other information as determined by the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Declaration of Customs Value

The declaration of customs value is an integral part of the goods declaration. Pursuant to Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 160 dated October 16, 2018, On Cases of Completing the Declaration of Customs Value, Approval of the Declaration of Customs Value Forms, and the Procedure for Completing the Declaration of Customs Value (the "Decision No. 160"), a declaration of customs value is completed for goods placed under the customs procedure of release for internal consumption or the temporary admission (allowance) procedure in the following cases:

• if customs duties and taxes are paid on the goods, there is a relationship between the seller and the buyer of the goods as defined in Article 37 of the EAEU Customs Code, and the customs value of the goods is determined using the transaction value method for imported goods (Method 1);
• if customs duties and taxes are paid on the goods and there are contractual relationships (license (sublicense) agreements) providing for the rightsholder's grant of rights to use intellectual property objects;
• if a deferred customs value determination procedure is applied;
• if amendments (additions) are made to customs value information stated in the goods declaration, except for amendments (additions) made solely to correct technical errors (typos, arithmetic errors, including those resulting from incorrect exchange rate application);
• upon the request of the customs authority if, during customs control of the customs value of goods under Article 325(4) of the Code, the customs authority requests commercial or accounting documents, other documents and (or) information, including written explanations; or upon the declarant's initiative.

The Decision No. 160 also approved:

• the DTS-1 declaration of customs value form;
• the DTS-2 declaration of customs value form;
• the procedure for completing the declaration of customs value.

DTS-1 is completed when determining the customs value of goods in accordance with Article 39 of the EAEU Customs Code. DTS-2 is completed when determining the customs value of goods in accordance with Articles 41 – 45 of the EAEU Customs Code. When completing the DTS, participants use directories and classifiers included in the EAEU unified system of regulatory and reference information, as well as directories and classifiers used for customs purposes, formed and applied in accordance with the laws of the Union Member States.

Documents Confirming the Origin of Goods

The origin of goods must be confirmed in all cases where the application of customs-tariff regulation measures, prohibitions and restrictions, and market protection measures depends on the origin of the goods, except for cases defined by Article 29(2) of the EAEU Customs Code.

Pursuant to Article 109 of the EAEU Customs Code, the legislation of Member States may provide for the declarant's right to submit documents confirming the origin of goods and compliance with prohibitions and restrictions before filing a goods declaration or after filing it but before the release of goods, provided that information about such documents and (or) information from them cannot be obtained by the customs authority in accordance with Article 80(2) of the EAEU Customs Code. The procedure for submitting such documents may also be established by national law.

The procedure for the declarant's submission of documents confirming the origin of goods and compliance with prohibitions and restrictions before filing a goods declaration or after filing it but before the release of goods was approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 40n dated March 6, 2018, On Determining the Procedure for the Declarant's Submission of Documents Confirming Information on the Origin of Goods and Compliance with Prohibitions and Restrictions Before Filing a Goods Declaration or After Filing a Goods Declaration Before the Release of Goods.

The declarant submits documents confirming the origin of goods as follows:

1. Before filing the goods declaration. The declarant may, before filing the goods declaration, pre-load documents confirming the origin of goods (certificate of origin, declaration of origin) and electronic information from such documents into the declarant's electronic document archive (the "EADD"). This is done through the Electronic Archive information service of the Component of Personal Account Services automated subsystem, located on the official website of the FCS of Russia, or using software that allows for the submission of information to the Unified Automated Information System of Customs Authorities.

2. After filing the goods declaration but before the release of goods. During customs operations, the declarant submits information to the customs authority regarding the documents confirming the origin of goods stored in the EADD, specifying document identification numbers, details (number, date), and document type codes in accordance with the classifier of document types and information approved by Decision of the Customs Union Commission No. 378 dated September 20, 2010, On Classifiers Used to Complete Customs Documents.

Moving goods across the EAEU border requires the mandatory execution of customs documents; the absence of these documents prevents the transport of goods through the customs control zone. Compliance with established customs regulations accelerates the customs clearance process and reduces the risks of refusal to move goods or requirements to amend customs documents. It is important to note that amending customs documents may lead to an increase in the customs value of goods and customs payments, as well as liability for non-compliance with customs legislation.

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References

[1] Article 84(1) of the EAEU Customs Code.

[2] Article 84(2) of the EAEU Customs Code.

[3] Resolution of the Ninth Arbitration Appeal Court dated July 25, 2022, No. 09AP-35991/2022 in case No. A40-5585/2022.

[4] Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the RF No. 49 dated November 26, 2019, On Certain Issues Arising in Judicial Practice in Connection with the Entry into Force of the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union.

[5] Resolution of the Fifteenth Arbitration Appeal Court dated December 21, 2022, No. 15AP-20471/2022 in case No. A32-4585/2022. Claim: On declaring the resolution on administrative liability unlawful. Ruling: The claim was denied.

[6] Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated January 16, 2023, No. F05-31831/2022 in case No. A40-76544/2022. Claim: On the reversal of a resolution on liability under Part 3 of Article 16.2 of the CAO RF for inaccurate declaration of goods. Ruling: The claim was granted because using a declaration of conformity obtained by another person does not invalidate such declarations and does not constitute an administrative offense under Part 3 of Article 16.2 of the CAO RF.

[7] Article 2(32) of the EAEU Customs Code.

[8] Pursuant to Clause 6, the document entered into force on October 1, 2023.