Importing goods to Russia. Shallow waters and hidden reefs.

Working in Russia means dealing with uncertainty on a daily basis. Working with the Russian customs means swimming in  a shark tank in a suit made of bacon. Today I will write about some practicse which make importing into Russia harder. The Russian customs serves one major goal that is to deliver as much money to the budget as possible. So here are some risky points which you should keep in mind.


First of all, you should know, whether your goods require certain certificates. An attempt to import something, which requires a Russian certificate without having one is one wide road into trouble. Possible outcomes are a fine, followed by an order to proceed with a customs clearance procedure within 2 months, which if failed will automatically lead to a second administrative case, another fine and finally the liability to pay for the customs warehouse, which normally costs around 1 0cents per kilo a day.

It is wise to know the Customs control sums for your type of goods. These figures are the product of the Customs officials internal investigation, which makes them poorly related to the actual market situation. STill, if your price per kilo is lower then the required minimum, it may be adviszble to increase it by ordering more expensive transport etc. If your goods are too cheap, you are looking at a process, named the correction oof customs prices, which means the customs officials will decide  how much you owe on their own.

Zero customs duties. Goods with a zero customs duty are subject to extensive study. The whole idea of importing at zero duties is essentially against the main goal of the Customs. It is therefore a good idea to prepare as many papers as possible to support the claim for zero level customs duties and prepare for supply delays. It is likely that the Customs officials will attempt to rule for the change of the customs code in favor of the one with higher duty figures.

All these issues are easier to evade than to deal with. Generally if you are right and the customs official is wrong, the court will rule in your favor, but this won't take less than six months. Corruption is rarely the case, as Customs are strictly monitored and the officers follow instructions to the letter.