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Customs Service Wants Forewarning
The government will speed up the drafting of a law on advance information for the Federal Customs Service on cargo being imported into Russia. The government legislative drafting commission has instructed the customs service to prepare amendments to the Customs Code. The law may be ready by October. Next year, such a law will go into effect in the European Union and the Russian customs service may succeed in passing its own law in tandem with the EU.
Informing the customs service of cargo that will be imported will simplify the work of inspectors, cut down on the processing time for cargo and make the process more transparent. The customs service has urged the passage of a law of this type since 2006. The system is already in use on a voluntary, experimental basis.
Importers, cargo owners, shippers and customs agents would be affected by the law. Advance information would be obligatory for importers, but would be mandatory for exporters only in cases where that is required by international agreement. Without such a system in place, the transit of goods through Finland and Germany, as well as other countries, will be much harder.
Experts are skeptical of the possibilities of implementing the system in Russia. They point out that the Russian Federal Customs Service lack the necessary equipment to link goods with their preliminary information. Nonetheless, they say that it is important to provide expedited service for those who provide advance information voluntarily. They point out that, while the use of customs brokers is not mandatory, as the customs service had suggested at one time, brokers are frequently used voluntarily by importers.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 17, 2008
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