Appendix
to Letter from the Federal Customs Service of Russia
No. 04-30/60671, d/d 12/12/2011)
MEMO
FOR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS PASSANGERS CROSSING THE CUSTOMS BORDER OF THE CUSTOMS UNION
Procedure of transportation of gods for personal use by individuals
crossing the customs border of the Customs Union
At present the Russian Federation is a member state of the Customs Union (CU).
The CU single customs territory consists of the territories of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The border of the single customs territory of the CU is the customs border of the Customs Union. Transportation of goods across the customs border of the Customs Union is regulated by the customs legislation of the CU.
The following concepts are identified by the customs legislation of the Customs Union.
Goods – any movable asset crossing the customs border, including information media, currencies of the member states of the Customs Union, securities and/or currency valuables, traveler’s checks, etc.
Goods for personal use – goods designed for personal, family, home and other needs of individuals, not connected with entrepreneurial activity, crossing the customs border as a part of accompanied or non-accompanied luggage or by any other means.
Inseparable goods for personal use – goods for personal use weighing more than 35 kg, consisting of one unit or one set of goods, including goods transported in disassembled, unassembled, incomplete or unfinished state, on the assumption that the goods have the basic property of assembled, completed or finished commodity item.
Accompanied luggage – goods for personal use, including hand-luggage, directly transported by an individual, crossing the customs border.
Non-accompanied luggage – goods for personal use belonging to an individual and handed over to the cargo operator under an international shipment agreement (transport shipping) for actual transportation across the customs border in connection with the arrival of this individual to the territory of the Customs Union or his departure from the territory of the CU.
The following items are subject to customs declaration when crossing the customs border of the Customs Union (a passenger customs declaration shall be filled in):
1) imported goods of total customs value exceeding equivalent of 10000 EUR and/or the total weight of which exceeds 50 kg;
2) imported and exported cash (banknotes, treasury notes, coins, excluding coins made of precious metals) and/or traveler’s checks for the total amount exceeding equivalent of 10,000 USD;
3) imported and exported monetary instruments (bills, bank checks, securities);
4) cultural valuables;
5) precious metals and precious stones: emeralds, rubies, sapphires, alexandrites, natural and finished pearls, unique ambers;
6) exported state rewards of the Russian Federation;
7) endangered and protected animals and plants, their parts and products made there of;
8) weapon and ammunition;
9) imported alcoholic beverages in total volume exceeding 3 liters;
10) narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in the form of medicines in accordance with medical prescription and upon availability of respective documents;
11) radio-electronics and/or radio-frequency devices for civil purpose, including built-in ones or integrated into other goods;
12) hardware containing encryption functionality;
13) inherited goods for personal use, upon availability of documents confirming these commodities have been inherited;
14) goods for personal use transported in accompanied luggage if the individual has nonaccompanied luggage as well;
15) other goods determined by the customs legislation of the Customs Union.
ATTENTION! An individual has the right to declare in writing at his/her will goods not subject to customs declaration in writing.
Both citizens of member states of the Customs Union and foreign citizens may declare goods crossing the customs border.
Customs declaration of goods for personal use by an individual aged under 16 shall be executed by the accompanying person (a parent, adoptive parent, guardian, trustee or group leader – for an organized group trip for minors).
Failure to provide the customs declaration concerning the above mentioned goods is considered as declaring that the individual has no goods subject to customs declaration. Revealing goods subject to customs declaration during selective customs control procedure shall result in bringing the passenger to responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the member state of the Customs Union.
Providing false information in the passenger customs declaration shall result in brining to responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the member state of the Customs Union.
Submission of the passenger customs declaration to a customs authority shall involve provision of documents confirming the information contained therein.
Such documents include:
1) identity documents (including for minors);
2) documents confirming adaptation, guardianship or trusteeship of a minor;
3) documents confirming the value of the declared goods for personal use;
4) transport documents;
5) documents, confirming the right for customs duties privilege, including documents confirming temporary import (export) of goods for personal use by an individual, as well as documents confirming acknowledgement of the individual as a refugee, forced migrant or a person travelling to a new permanent place of residence;
6) documents confirming observance of restrictions, except non-tariff and technical regulation measures;
7) documents containing identification information of vehicle for personal use;
8) documents confirming the ownership, right of use and/or disposal of vehicle for personal use.
9) Other documents and information submission of which is required according to the customs legislation of the Customs union.
ATTENTION! In the absence of goods subject to customs declaration the above mentioned documents shall be submitted by request of a customs authority official.
The following goods for personal use may be imported to the territory of the Customs Union duty-free:
1) goods of total customs value not exceeding an equivalent of 10,000 EUR and/or the weight of which does not exceed 50 kg;
2) alcoholic beverages and beer in the volume not exceeding 3 liters per individual aged over 18;
3) tobacco and tobacco products: 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars (cigarillos) or 250 g of tobacco or the above mentioned products in assortment of the total weight not exceeding 250 g per individual aged over 18;
4) pre-owned goods imported by refugees, forced migrants, migrants;
5) inherited goods subject to documentary evidence of the fact of inhering of such goods;
6) goods imported by diplomatic employees, administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission or a consulate, as well as members of their families;
7) goods imported by individuals sent for working to a foreign state by state authorities, providing their stay beyond CU customs territory exceeds 11 months (subject to documentary evidence);
8) goods imported back to the territory of the Customs Union intact, subject to proof of their export from the territory of the Customs Union;
9) cultural valuables providing they are considered as such in accordance with the legislation of the member states of the Customs Union;
10) funeral urns containing remains (ash), coffins with dead human bodies (remains);
11) pre-owned goods temporarily imported by foreign individuals to the customs territory of the Customs Union:
- jewelry (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- personal hygiene items (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- photo cameras, video cameras, movie cameras (max. one unit) and accessories thereof (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- portable cinema projectors, slide show projectors (max. one unit) and accessories thereof (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- portable video tape recorders (max. one unit);
- portable sound-recording and reproducing equipment (including dictaphones), DVD-players(max. one unit) and accessories thereof (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- sound record medium, with records or not (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- portable radio sets, flash-players (max. one unit) and accessories thereof (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- TV sets with CRT size max. 42 cm (max. one unit);
- portable typewriters (max. one unit);
- binoculars (max. one unit);
- mobile telephones (max. two units);
- portable personal computers (laptops) (max. one unit) and accessories thereof (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- portable musical instruments (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- baby carriages (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- baby seats fixed on the seat of the car (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- wheelchairs (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- sport, tourism and hunting equipment and accessories, air-balloons (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- portable dialyzers and similar medical devices and consumables (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay);
- domestic animal, including those used for hunting, sport (in quantity needed for use during the period of the temporary stay).
Following customs duties are applicable for import of goods for personal use by an individual to the territory of the Customs Union:
1) flat rate 30% of the customs value of goods, but not less than 4 EUR per 1 kg of weight, applicable to the part exceeding the standard value of equivalent of 10,000 EUR and/or exceeding the standard weight of 50 kg – for import of goods for personal use, the customs value of which exceeds equivalent of 10,000 EUR and/or the weight of which exceeds 50 kg;
2) aggregate customs payment – for import of inseparable goods for personal use;
3) flat rate 22 EUR per 1 liter – for import of ethyl alcohol in the volume of up to 5 liters;
4) flat rate 10 EUR per 1 liter applicable to the part exceeding the standard volume of 3 liters – for import of alcoholic beverages and beer in the volume from 3 to 5 liters inclusively.
No customs duties, flat rates taxes and cumulative customs duties are imposed on goods for personal use exported by individuals from the customs territory of the Customs Union.
An individual is not allowed to export the following goods for personal use from the territory of the Customs Union:
1) fish and sea food (excluding sturgeon caviar) exceeding 5 kg in weight;
2) sturgeon caviar exceeding 250 g in weight;
The following goods may not be classified as goods for personal use:
1) natural diamonds;
2) exported goods subject to export customs duties;
3) central heating boilers;
4) mowing machines (excluding lawn-mowers), haymaking machines, etc.;
5) sun booths;
6) medical equipment (excluding equipment needed during the way or required under a
prescription issued on medical authority), etc.
ATTENTION! In case goods transported across the customs border by an individual, are not classified as
goods for personal use, they are subject to customs operations (including customs declaration) in
accordance with the procedure provided for participants of foreign economic activity.
Classification of goods transported by an individual across the customs border as goods for personal use is carried out by a customs authority in accordance with the following:
- application of the individual concerning the goods transported (in oral or written form using passenger customs declaration);
- nature and quantity of the goods;
- frequency of crossing the border by the individual and/or transportation of goods by him across the customs border.
The following goods may not be classified as goods for personal use:
1) natural diamonds;
2) exported goods subject to export customs duties;
3) central heating boilers;
4) mowing machines (excluding lawn-mowers), haymaking machines, etc.;
5) sun booths;
6) medical equipment (excluding equipment needed during the way or required under a
prescription issued on medical authority), etc.
Transportation of the following goods for personal use across the border of the Russian Federation by individuals is possible upon permission of state authorities:
- weapon, basic components thereof, ammunition – permission of the internal affairs authorities is required;
- cultural valuables – permission for export of cultural valuables issued by the state authority supervising the circulation of cultural valuables is required;
- endangered and protected animals and plants, parts thereof, as well as products made of them – a CITES permission issued by the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage is required;
- radio-electronics and/or radio-frequency devices for civil purpose – permission of the Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications is required;
- hardware containing encryption functionality – notification, registered by the Licensing, Certification and State Secrets Defense Center of the Federal Security Service of Russia is required. The list of registered notifications, filled in by producers of products or persons, authorized by the producers of products, can be found at www.tsouz.ru.
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The memo contains a minimum scope of information. Detailed information on the customs regulations can be found at the customs authority before customs control or on the official site of the Customs Union Commission (www.tsouz.ru), official site of Federal Customs Service (http://fl.customs.ru/).