Foreign Trade and Customs Criminal Law
Legal protection in case of violation of customs legislation and foreign trade regulation

In the practice of conducting foreign trade, there are violations of customs legislation, which lead to the bringing of participants in foreign trade to liability, including criminal liability. Customs violations are identified by customs authorities, as a rule, during customs control and, if an offense is detected in an amount that is qualified as a particularly large amount, they are transferred to the investigation unit.
Consulting on the criminal legal consequences of violating customs legislation and foreign trade legislation
In order to successfully conduct business with foreign partners, participants in foreign trade activities must comply with the requirements of not only national customs legislation, but also the requirements of international legal acts. This will avoid adverse consequences for the foreign trade participant in the form of prosecution, including criminal liability.
To avoid violations of customs legislation and foreign trade legislation, an entrepreneur needs to study regulatory documents in this area or attract a qualified specialist to support his activities. Customs lawyers advise not only on issues of implementation of customs legislation, but also on aspects of the law regarding liability for violations.
One of the most common offenses in the field of customs law is evasion of customs duties, which, in accordance with the EAEU Customs Code, include:
- import customs duty;
- export customs duty;
- value added tax levied when importing goods into the customs territory of the EAEU;
- excise taxes (excise tax or excise duty) levied when importing goods into the customs territory of the EAEU;
- customs duties.
Underestimation of customs duties can lead an entrepreneur to administrative and criminal liability.
Criminal legal consequences of violation of customs legislation
Criminal liability for violations of customs legislation is provided for in several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:
- Article 189. Illegal export from the Russian Federation or transfer of goods or technology, weapons or military equipment, illegal performance of work or illegal provision of services in respect of which export control has been established is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 7 years with a fine of up to 1 million rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 5 years or without it and with or without restriction of freedom for a period of up to 1 year.
- Article 193. Evasion from fulfillment of obligations to repatriate funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation is punishable by a fine in the amount of 200 thousand to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to 3 years, or by forced labor for a term of up to 3 years, or imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years.
- Article 193.1. Carrying out currency transactions involving the transfer of funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents is punishable by a fine in the amount of 200 thousand to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of 1 to 3 years, or forced labor for a term of up to 3 years, or imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years.
- Article 194. Evasion of customs duties, special, anti-dumping and (or) countervailing duties levied on an organization or individual is punishable by a fine in the amount of 100 thousand to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of 1 up to 3 years, or compulsory labor for a term of up to 480 hours, or forced labor for a term of up to 2 years, or imprisonment for the same period.
Evasion of customs duties, special, anti-dumping and (or) countervailing duties is recognized as committed on a large scale if the amount of unpaid customs duties, special, anti-dumping and (or) countervailing duties for goods moved across the customs border of the EAEU, including in one or several consignments, exceeds 2 million rubles, and in a particularly large amount – 6 million rubles.
- Article 200.1. Smuggling of cash and (or) monetary instruments is punishable by a fine in the amount of three to ten times the amount of illegally moved cash and (or) the value of illegally moved monetary instruments or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 2 years, or by a restriction freedom for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to 2 years.
It is important to note that in accordance with the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 27, 2017 No. 12 “On judicial practice in cases of smuggling,” the illegal movement of goods or other items across the customs border should be understood as the movement of goods or other items outside established places or to an unspecified location time of work of customs authorities in these places, or with concealment from customs control, or with false declaration or non-declaration of goods, or with the use of documents containing false information about goods or other items, and (or) with the use of counterfeit or related to other goods or other items of identification means.
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also provides for other articles on smuggling, the violation of which provides for criminal liability:
- Article 200.2. Smuggling of alcoholic beverages and (or) tobacco products.
- Article 226.1. Smuggling of potent, poisonous, poisonous, explosive, radioactive substances, radiation sources, nuclear materials, firearms or their main parts, explosive devices, ammunition, other weapons, other military equipment, as well as raw materials, materials, equipment, technologies, scientific and technical information or results of intellectual activity that can be used in the creation of weapons or military equipment, as well as strategically important goods and resources or cultural values or especially valuable wild animals, aquatic biological resources, plants and mushrooms.
- Article 229.1. Smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors or analogues, plants containing narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their precursors, or their parts containing narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their precursors, tools or equipment under special control and used for the manufacture narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
Customs Attorney
A customs attorney is a specialist who understands not only the intricacies of customs law and document preparation, but can represent the interests of a participant in foreign trade activities when interacting with customs authorities, including on issues of bringing to liability.
It must be answered that the services of a customs lawyer are important not only at the stage of identifying an offense, but also at the stage of preparing a foreign trade transaction. This will avoid adverse consequences that could lead to the entrepreneur being held liable.
Customs attorneys can:
- consultations on customs law issues;
- represent the interests of participants in foreign trade activities with customs authorities;
- provide assistance in the preparation of not only a foreign trade contract, but also in the preparation of all necessary documents for conducting foreign trade activities and customs clearance.
The participation of qualified specialists when an entrepreneur conducts foreign trade activities allows him to correctly draw up the necessary documents and reduces the risk of possible adverse consequences.
Legal services
- Consulting foreign trade participants on issues of criminal prosecution and possible methods of defense
- Preparation of documents necessary for criminal defense of clients
- Representing the interests of an entrepreneur in case of violation of the procedure for conducting foreign trade activities and customs legislation