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Oversight Loosened on Importers
The Federal Customs Service has completed drafting its proposals for amendments to the Customs Code of the Russian Federation next year. Among its recommendations is the expansion of the audit cycle for companies from one year to three years, in line with the practice of the Federal Tax Service. The recommendations are now undergoing internal conciliation, and will be presented to a customs service collegium on October 10. They may come into force at the beginning of next year.
The new document proposes that information presented to the service by importers be checked every three years. It would also make illegal goods that lack a customs freight declaration in the warehouse and on sale and expand the list of parties subject to verification. The steps are a response to the government's demand that customs procedures be made simpler and faster at the border. Under the Customs Code, goods should not stand at the border for more than three days.
Anton Guskov, a representative of the consumer goods importers association RATEK, commented that “Later supervision is hardly noticeable. It needs to be increased.” The success of the customs service's efforts will depend the technical details of its enforcement. Guskov also pointed out that multiple audits are a hardship for companies. He suggested that the customs inspection be combined with tax inspection. “As long as there is a liberal registration regime for companies and corruption allows responsibility to be evaded, the good intentions of the customs service will be just an addition blow against law-abiding market participants,” he concluded.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 04, 2007
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