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February 2014
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R
USSIA
B
RIEFING
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5
Russia’s Accession to The WTO – One year later
I
n the last decade, the Russian Federation and afterwards the
Customs Union, tried to develop the procedure of customs
clearing and to promote a much faster, less bureaucratic and
transparent alternative to the common paper format.
The beginning of the new era was set in 2002 with the law“On the
electronic digital signature” and the first electronically submitted
customs declaration in November 2002 at a customs office of the
Moscow Regional Customs. At that time, the declarations needed to
be submitted via the customs communication channel using special
software with the attached documents sent in a scanned, informal
format. For customs clearance under this so called ED1 form, the
presence of the declarant at the customs office was compulsory.
In 2008, the electronic form of declaration was improved further
when the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation
developed a means to declare goods through the Internet. The so
called ED2 form foresees the completing of special electronic XML
forms for themain documents, such as bill of lading, invoice, packing
list, but also contracts and attachments. The main advantage is that
for the internet declaration, the declarant no longer needs to be
present at the customs office andmay submit a declaration fromhis
desk. This is possible thanks to the electronic signature. The declarant
company simply needs to apply for an electronic signature at one
of the licensed centers for electronic declaration of goods. Such an
electronic signature is nothingmore than a certificate on a memory
card (token) that authorizes the sending of customs declarations to
a specific customs office.
Thanks to this development, customs clearance has not only
become less time consuming (about 2-3 hours) but alsomuchmore
transparent. Indeed, after sending the goods declaration between
the declarant and the customs inspector, a sort of “conversation”
starts which shows to both of the parties the current status of the
process such as receipt of the declarationwith the indication of name
and surname of the inspector in charge, possible mistakes, request
of documents, and eventually the release of goods.
According to the Federal law № 311 dated November 27, 2010 “Of
customs regulation in the Russian Federation”from January 1, 2014
the electronic goods declaration becomes compulsory. Customs
declarations on paper will be used only in special cases defined by
the Government of the Russian Federation.
The next stage in this development is the remote, electronic
declaration which foresees the further step of moving customs
Modern Import Tools
– By Bettina Wisthaler
tariff imply a partial decrease or even a complete cancellation of
certain tariff lines. During the talks between the WTO and Russia,
the decrease in revenue for the Russian Federation was one of the
hottest topics. The complexity of this question is also due to the
fact that the consequences will be felt throughout the Customs
Union, whereas Belarus and Kazakhstan are not yet members of the
WTO. In order to reach, nevertheless, the final agreement, a series
of compromises needed to be achieved. First of all, the changes do
not need to be implemented right away but within a transitional
period of seven years with the main changes to be expected after
the third year following accession. The first amendment to the
customs import tariff was published on August 6, 2013 and it came
into effect on September 1. A total decrease of the rates can be
observed from 9.6% to 7.8% on roughly 5,100 products (almost
half of the total product lines) while most products witnessed tariff
reductions of 1-3%. However, importers should also be prepared to
see an increase of those rates which are currently lower than the ones
provided for by the WTO. The Eurasian Economic Commission also
announced that the compound tariff rate which is a combination of
a fixed amount and an amount based on the value of the goods will
be replaced by an ad valorem rate, i.e. a percentage of the customs
value of goods. In terms of types of products, the reductions apply
to a wide range of products with food products being the most
common ones. In line with expectations, the country’s agricultural
sector is not yet competitive enough to resist growing imports after
the reduction of the respective tariff lines. In the last six months, for
example, the import of dairy products increased significantly: milk
and cream to Russia increased by 15.5%, milk powder - by 47.7%,
butter - by 12.5%, cheese and cottage cheese - 10%, according to
the Federal Customs Service.
Despite this development in the context of the WTO, Russia has
raised international concern over its preferential treatment of
domestic industries. One of the most discussed issues, which many
seen related to the decrease in revenue coming from customs
payments, is the so called recycling fee which was introduced by
Russia on September 1, 2012. The fee is levied on motor vehicles
and cars and it ranges from about 420 to 2,700 Euro. While the fee
is imposed on all imports into Russia, vehicles produced in Russia
are exempt. As the fee has a severe impact on EU vehicle exports
to Russia, the European Union has already filed the first case against
the Russian vehicle recycling fee and is supported also by Japan and
the United States.
The current picture shows that Russia’s accession to the WTO was
not the end of a long path but only the first step towards a more
liberal trading environment.