Goods shall be liable for declaration to customs authorities during their conveyance across the customs border, change of applicable customs procedures, as well as in other cases set forth by Articles 183, 184, 247 and 391 of this Customs Code.

Article 124. Declaration of Goods to the Customs Authorities

1. The declaration of goods is effected through submission to the customs authorities of information pertaining to goods and their customs procedural status, as well as of any other information, which may be required for customs clearance purposes, in a customs declaration or by any other method stipulated by this Customs Code in a written, verbal, electronic, or contracting form.
Declaration of goods may be effected either by a declarant or by a customs broker (agent) (Article 15) at the declarant’s discretion.

2. The scope of information to be entered in a customs declaration is limited to the details which are required for calculating and levying dutiable payments, gathering customs statistics, and applying the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.

3. Recorded in a customs declaration may be the following details (including codified details):

(1) the declared customs procedure;

(2) information pertaining to the declarant, customs broker (agent), the person specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, the goods dispatcher and recipient;

(3) information pertaining to the means of transport used for the international haulage of goods and/or haulage of goods in customs custody in the customs territory of the Russian Federation;

(4) information pertaining to goods, including:

its name;
its description;
its classification codes as per the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade;
the name of the country of origin;
the name of the country of departure (destination);
description of its packaging (quantity, shape, marking and record numbers);
its quantities in kilograms (gross and net weight) or in other units of measurement;
its customs value;

(5) information on dutiable payments:

rates of import and export customs duties, taxes and customs fees;
application of privileges with regard to disbursement of customs duties, taxes and customs fees;
the currency exchange rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the date of submission of the customs declaration for the purpose of registering and levying dutiable payments;

(6) information on the external economic transaction and its basic terms and conditions;

(7) information on the observance of restrictions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities;

(8) information on the goods manufacturer/producer;

(9) information confirming observance of the terms of subjecting goods to the declared customs procedure;

(10) information pertaining to the documents required for declaring goods (Article 131);

(11) information pertaining to the person who has completed said customs declaration;

(12) the date and place of completing said customs declaration.

4. In case a customs declaration is used as a registration document for currency control purposes exercised by the customs authorities, said customs declaration should also include the details required for such purposes pursuant to the Law of the Russian Federation on Currency Regulation and Currency Control.

5. A customs declaration should be authenticated by the person who has completed it and signed by an authorised employee of said person. Authentication of a customs declaration is effected by affixation of an official seal if the person who has completed a customs declaration is obliged to have an official seal in accordance with law of the Russian Federation.

6. The form of declaration is established by the Federal Customs Authority in accordance with this Customs Code and other legal statutes of the Russian Federation.
The Federal Customs Authority has the right to shorten the details which are to be entered in a customs declaration with consideration of the categories of persons as specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, the categories of goods, the requirements of various customs procedural statuses, or proceeding from the kind of means of transport used for conveying goods across the customs border.

7. The lists of information which is to be entered in a customs declaration and the forms in which such information is entered shall be liable for official publication. The normative legal acts and statutes issued by the Federal Customs Authority determining the list of information to be entered in a customs declaration shall go into effect not earlier than in ninety days from the day of their official publication with the exception of the cases stipulated by the Sub-Items 2) and 3) of Item 3 of Article 5 of this Customs Code.

Article 125. Places for Declaring Goods

1. A customs declaration may be submitted to any customs authority empowered to accept customs declaration.

2. With a view to ensuring effective supervision over the observance of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation the Federal Customs Authority has the right to set up specialised customs offices for declaring specific categories of goods:

(1) in case of requirement to use specialised equipment and/or specialised knowledge for customs clearance of such merchandise as that of cultural value, weapons, military materiel and ammunition thereto, radioactive and fission material;

(2) depending on the kind of transport used for the international shipment of goods and commodities (motor vehicles, seagoing vessels, riverboats, aircraft, railway cars, pipelines, or electric power lines);

(3) in case of the conveyance across the customs border of specific kinds of goods acknowledged for frequent breaches of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation or liable for restrictions and prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities;

(4) whenever it is required to exercise special customs control procedures with regard to specific merchandise constituting items of intellectual property in accordance with the list set forth by the Government of the Russian Federation.

3. In case a customs declaration was submitted to a different customs office than that established as per Item 2 herein, said customs declaration shall be dispatched by the customs office to which it was submitted to the requisite customs office.

In this situation, the time limit for acceptance of a customs declaration (Article 132) shall be prolonged to the time required for its dispatch, but for not more than two working days.

4. The normative legal acts of the Federal Customs Authority setting up specialised customs control facilities for declaring specific kinds of merchandise shall go into effect not earlier than in ninety days from the day of their official publication.

Article 126. Declarant

1. A declarant is any person specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, as well as any other person authorised to dispose of goods in the customs territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provided he or she abides by the terms and conditions set forth in Item 2 herein.

2. A declarant may only be a Russian person except in the following cases of conveyance of goods across the Customs border:

by natural persons for personal, family, household and other needs which are not associated with any entrepreneurial ventures;
by foreign persons who enjoy customs privileges as per Chapter 25 of this Customs Code;
by foreign organisations which maintain their representative offices registered (accredited) on the territory of the Russian Federation according to the established order, in instances of their declaring goods for the customs procedure of temporary importation re-export, or transit, as well as for the customs procedure stipulating release for internal consumption of the goods which are imported for fulfilling needs of such representative offices;
by foreign carriers declaring the customs transit procedure;,
other cases when a foreign person has the right to dispose of goods in the customs territory of the Russian Federation beyond the provisions of an external economic transaction involving a Russian person as party to it.

Article 127. Declarant’s Rights and Obligations

1. When declaring goods and undergoing other customs operations required for their release, the declarant has the right:

to inspect and measure the goods subject to declaring before and after submitting a customs declaration;
upon permission of the customs authorities to take samples and specimens of the merchandise subject to declaring which have been imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation, no separate customs declaration pertaining to the merchandise samples and specimens shall be required provided said samples and specimens are entered in the customs declaration;
to attend the customs control and customs inspection procedures with regard to the goods declared by him or her (Articles 371 and 372), as well as at the instances when customs officers take samples and specimens of the declared goods (Article 383);
to review the available results of the examination of samples and specimens of the declared goods conducted by customs officers;
to submit documents and information required for declaring goods in electronic format in accordance with this Customs Code;
to enjoy other rights and authority stipulated by this Customs Code.

2. At the instance of declaring goods and performing other customs operations the declarant shall be obliged:

to submit a customs declaration and present to the customs authorities the requisite documents and information;
upon the request of the customs authorities, to present goods for inspection;
to make requisite dutiable payments or secure said payments in accordance with the provisions contained in Part III of this Customs Code.

Article 128. Peculiarities of Declaring Goods with Different Names within the Same Consignment

1. Upon a declarant’s request, goods with different names within a single consignment may be declared under the same classification code pursuant to the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade provided that this code corresponds to the highest rate of the applicable customs duty.

Note: if goods match several classification codes pursuant to the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade predicating the same rates of customs duties, the carrier should enter in the customs declaration the code of the goods article corresponding to the highest excise tax rate, and in the instances when excise tax rates coincide, to the highest VAT rate.

2. The declarant shall be obliged to declare the names, descriptions, and quantities of all goods contained in a single consignment by way of presenting a comprehensive list of goods, which may be substituted by a waybill, a packing list, an inventory, or other similar documents. For customs clearance purposes, the list of goods shall be regarded as an integral part of a customs declaration.

3. In case some of the items contained in the same consignment are liable for restrictions or prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities, their declaration under the same classification code as per the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade will not relieve the declarant of the requirement to abide by said restrictions.

4. With a view to verifying the observance of the requirements established in Item 3 herein, customs authorities have the right to demand that the declarant provide additional clarifying information with regard to the declared goods.

Article 129. Time Limits for Submitting a Customs Declaration

1. A customs declaration pertaining to the goods imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation shall be submitted within 15 days from the date of presentation of goods to customs authorities at the border gate of its entry to the customs territory of the Russian Federation or from the date of completion of its domestic customs transit procedure if imported goods are not declared at the customs border gate, except the cases specified in Articles 150, 286 and 2293 of this Customs Code.

2. If the time limit specified in Item 1 herein is not sufficient for the declarant for collecting all the requisite documents and information, the customs authorities will prolong said time limit for the submission of the customs declaration upon a motivated written requested by the declarant in that regard. Prolongation of the time limit for submitting a customs declaration may not result in a breach of time terms designated for temporary storage of goods.

3. If the deadline for the submission of a customs declaration coincides with the day-off of the customs office concerned, the deadline date shall be shifted to the first working day of the customs office following the deadline.

4. A customs declaration for the goods exported from the customs territory of the Russian Federation shall be submitted before its de facto departure from the customs territory of the Russian Federation except the cases specified in Article 314 of this Customs Code.

Article 130. Preliminary Declaration of Goods

1. A customs declaration with regard to foreign goods may be submitted before their actual arrival at the customs territory of the Russian Federation or before the completion of the domestic customs transit procedure.

2. If presentation of waybills, shipment documents, or commercial documents accompanying goods is mandatory for customs clearance purposes, in instances of the preliminary declaration of goods the customs authorities will accept copies of said documents authenticated by the declarant. Upon arrival of said goods at the customs territory of the Russian Federation, customs authorities may, if necessary, compare the information contained in the copies of said documents with the information contained in their originals.

3. After the submitted customs declaration has been verified and all requisite customs duties and taxes paid, this customs declaration may be used as a general document requisite for subjecting goods to various customs procedures before their actual arrival.

4. If goods have not been presented to the customs office that accepted the preliminary declaration as per Item 1 herein within fifteen days from the date of its acceptance, the customs declaration shall be regarded as void.

Article 131. Submission of Documents pertaining to the Declaration of Goods

1. The submission of a customs declaration should be accompanied by presentation to a customs office of the documents confirming the information stated in the customs declaration.

2. When declaring goods, the following essential documents are to be presented:

international purchase/sale contracts supplemented with the agreements and contract concluded concomitantly with the external economic transaction; in the cases of unilateral external economic transactions supplemented should be the documents reflective of the contents of said transactions;
commercial documents at the declarant’s disposal;
waybills and/or shipment documents;
permissions, licences, certificates and/or other documents confirming observance of the restrictions pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities;
the documents confirming the country of origin of goods in the instances stipulated by Article 37 of this Customs Code;
payment and accounting documents;
the documents confirming information pertaining to the declarant and the persons stated in Article 16 of this Customs Code.

3. In claiming privileges with regard to disbursement of customs duties and taxes, including those payable at the instance of declaration of the goods’ customs procedure providing complete or partial exemption of said goods from customs duties and taxes, non-application to goods of the restrictions and prohibitions pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities or reduction of the taxation basis, the declarant shall be obliged to present to the customs authorities the documents confirming the consistency his (or her) claims.

4. For the purpose of certifying the goods’ declared customs value the declarant shall be obliged to present documentary proof of the declared customs value and substantiate validity of the method used for determining the customs value.

5. In case some of the documents cannot be submitted concomitantly with the customs declaration, upon a declarant’s motivated written request the customs authorities concerned will permit submission of such documents within the time limits required to obtain them but not later than within 45 days following the date of acceptance of the customs declaration unless this Customs Code stipulates other time limits for submission of specific documents and information. The declarant shall be obliged to submit his (or her) written obligation to present said documents or information within the designated period of time.

6. In case the declarant presents to the customs authorities the documents that may also be required for completing customs clearance formalities with regard to other goods, upon the declarant’s request the customs office concerned shall issue a written statement certifying the fact of acceptance of said documents, which shall comply with the format established by the Federal Customs Authority. This written statement shall remain in force until the presented documents are amended or their validity expires. The declarant may use this written statement in the process of customs clearance of goods without submitting to the customs office the documents which have already been accepted by customs authorities. The declarant has the right to present said documents before submitting his (or her) customs declaration.

Article 132. Acceptance of a Customs Declaration

1. The fact of submission of a customs declaration and requisite documentation shall be formalised on the date of their acceptance by a customs office. Upon a request by a person, who has submitted a customs declaration, the customs authorities should issue without delay a documentary (or electronic) confirmation of their acceptance of said customs declaration and requisite documentation.

2. A customs declaration submitted to the customs authorities shall be accepted on the date of its submission with the exception of the following cases:

the customs declaration was submitted to a customs office which is not authorised to accept customs declarations;
the customs declaration is submitted by an inappropriate person;
the customs declaration does nit contain the required information (Article 124);
the customs declaration has not been signed, not duly authenticated, or compiled using an improper form;
at the instance of presentation of the customs declaration the declarant failed to submit the documents required for customs clearance except the documents that may be presented after the acceptance of said customs declaration as per Item 5 of Article 131 of this Customs Code;
the declared goods have not been subjected to the operations which, according to this Customs Code, ought to be fulfilled prior to or at the instance of submission of a customs declaration. The fact of non-payment of customs duties and taxes at the moment of submission of a customs declaration shall not be regarded as a reason for rejecting a customs declaration.

3. Beginning from the moment of its acceptance a customs declaration acquires the significance of a document attesting to the facts bearing legal meaning.

4. In case a customs declaration has not been accepted by the customs authorities, it shall be regarded as void.

5. The customs authorities shall notify the person who has submitted a customs declaration about the reasons for their refusal to accept his (or her) declaration not later than on the day following its submission. Upon a request by the person who submitted said customs declaration, such notification will be provided in writing.

Article 133. Amendments of and Additions to a Customs Declaration

1. Upon a declarant’s motivated written request, the information stated in a customs declaration may be amended or supplemented.

2. Amendments of and additions to the statements contained in an accepted customs declaration may be permitted by the customs authorities provided the following conditions have been observed:

by the time of the declarant’s application to the customs authorities the latter have not found any factual errors in the information stated in the customs declaration except for minor inaccuracies which do not affect their resolution with regard to release of merchandise;
by the time of the declarant’s application to the customs authorities the latter have not started inspection of the declarant’s merchandise;
if the amendments and/or additions proposed by the declarant will have no bearing on the customs authorities’ resolution with regard to release of the goods concerned nor require any amendment of the details stipulating the size of the amounts payable as customs duties and taxes or imposition of the restrictions of prohibitions envisaged by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities.

3. Customs officers have no right, on their own initiative or upon an instruction or request by an interested person to fill out a customs declaration, modify or supplement the information stated in the customs declaration, except entering the records pertaining to the competence of the customs authorities or making amendments and additions to the codified information used for the declarations’ machine processing provided said customs declaration contains such information stated by a declarant in a non-codified form.

Article 134. Withdrawal of a Customs Declaration

1. Upon a declarant’s written request, an accepted customs declaration pertaining to foreign goods may be withdrawn prior to the release of said goods with a view to declaring a different customs procedure.

Customs authorities may issue a written authorisation for the withdrawal of a customs declaration if they have not revealed any factual errors in the information stated by the declarant in his (or her) customs declaration except for minor inaccuracies which do not affect their resolution with regard to the release of goods.

In instances of the issuance of their authorisation for a withdrawal of a customs declaration, customs authorities shall prescribe the time limit for submitting a new customs declaration, which may not exceed 15 days from the day of issue of the authorisation for withdrawal. The withdrawal of a customs declaration shall not prolong the period of payment of customs duties and taxes.

2. Upon a declarant’s written request an accepted customs declaration pertaining to the Russian goods subject to exportation from the customs territory of the Russian Federation may be withdrawn regardless of the purpose of said withdrawal prior to the departure of said goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, as well as after the customs authorities have issued their permission for subjecting said goods to the declared customs procedural status.

The customs authorities may issue a written authorisation for the withdrawal of a customs declaration if they have not revealed any factual errors in the information stated by the declarant in his (or her) customs declaration except minor inaccuracies, which do not affect their resolution with regard to placing the goods in the declared customs procedural status.

The time limit for submitting a new customs declaration with regard to such goods is not designated.

Article 135. Incomplete Customs Declaration

1. In case a declarant does not possess the complete information required for filling out a the customs declaration due to reasons beyond his (or her) control, submission of an incomplete customs declaration may be permitted provided it contains the details required for releasing goods, calculating and effecting dutiable payments, certifying compliance with the restrictions and prohibitions pursuant to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities, as well as enabling identification of goods based on the summary of their qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

Upon submitting an incomplete customs declaration, the declarant shall make a written commitment to furnish all the missing details within the time limit prescribed by the customs office, which may not exceed forty-five days with regard to foreign goods from the date of acceptance by the customs authorities concerned with the incomplete declaration.

As regards Russian goods, the time limit prescribed to the declarant for the submission of the missing details shall be determined proceeding from the time required for the haulage of said goods to the place of their exportation, navigational or other conditions, and such time limit may not exceed eight months from the date of acceptance by the customs authorities concerned of the incomplete declaration.

2. In case customs authorities accept an incomplete customs declaration, applicable to the goods shall be the same terms and conditions of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation, including the order of calculation and disbursement of customs duties and taxes, applicable to goods in the instance of the submission of a complete and properly filled out customs declaration.

Article 136. Periodic Customs Declaration

1. In cases of the regular conveyance of merchandise across the customs border by the same person, customs authorities may permit the declarant to submit a single customs declaration applicable to all the goods and means of transport conveyed across the customs border within a designated period of time.

2. Use of a periodic customs declaration should not lead to breaches of time limits prescribed for the temporary storage of goods or violations of the terms of payment of customs duties and taxes.

3. In case a periodic customs declaration is submitted with regard to Russian goods exported from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, the rules stipulated by Items 3 and 7 of Article 138 of this Customs Code shall apply.

4. In cases of the regular conveyance of the same merchandise across the customs border by the same person, customs authorities may permit the declarant to use a single periodic customs declaration applicable to multiple conveyances of such goods across the customs border within one year.

Article 137. Peculiarities of Declaring Russian Goods during their Exportation from the Customs Territory of the Russian Federation

1. In the case of the exportation of Russian goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, upon the declarant’s request a simplified declaration procedure may be applied in accordance with Articles 135, 136 and 138 of this Customs Code.

2. A simplified customs declaration procedure for Russian goods may be applied if it does not obstruct the execution of customs control measures nor relieves the declarant of the requirement to abide by the terms and conditions set forth by this Customs Code and other legal acts of the Russian Federation with regard to the completeness and timeliness of disbursement of customs duties and taxes, to observe the restrictions and prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities, and adhere to the customs control procedures.

In case the customs authorities deny the declarant said simplified customs declaration procedure, they will be obliged to notify the declarant of such denial, as per Item 5 of Article 132 of this Customs Code, and specify the conditions, which need to be fulfilled for the application of said simplified procedure.

3. The commodities conveyed across the border using pipeline transport or via electric power-lines shall be declared in accordance with the terms stipulated by Chapter 26 of this Customs Code.

Article 138. Periodic Temporary Customs Declaration of Russian Goods

1. In cases of the exportation of the Russian goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation in whose regard the declarant cannot present exact details, which are required for their customs clearance in accordance with the generally adopted terms of external trade operations, such goods may be subject to periodic temporary declaration effected by the submission of a temporary customs declaration.

2. Upon departure of said Russian goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation, the declarant shall be obliged to submit a complete and properly filled out customs declaration covering all the Russian goods exported from the customs territory within a designated period. The submission of said complete and properly filled out customs declaration shall be effected within the time limits prescribed by the customs office upon the declarant’s request. In prescribing such a time limit the customs authorities shall take into consideration the actual time the declarant will require to obtain the details requisite for submitting said complete and properly filled out customs declaration. The maximum time term for the submission of said compete and properly filled out declaration shall be limited to ninety days from the date following the date of expiration of the time period prescribed for the exportation of the declared goods.

3. The time required for exportation of Russian goods which have been declared with the use of a temporary customs declaration, shall be determined by the declarant. The period for goods liable for export customs duties and taxes or subject to restrictions and/or prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities shall not exceed one calendar month, whereas customs authorities may accept a temporary customs declaration not more than fifteen days in advance.

4. A temporary customs declaration contains estimated quantities of the Russian goods, which a declarant intends to export within a specific period of time, whose estimated customs value (valuation) shall be determined pursuant to the intended quantities of Russian goods to be conveyed across the customs border and based on the consumer properties of said Russian goods, as specified by the terms of the applicable external economic transaction and the procedure applied for their valuation on the date of submission of the temporary customs declaration.

Departure of Russian goods from the customs territory of the Russian Federation in the quantities exceeding those stated in the temporary customs declaration is prohibited, except for the instances stipulated by Items 1 and 2 of Article 122 of this Customs Code.

In case of use of a temporary customs declaration, all restrictions and prohibitions stipulated by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the State Regulation of Foreign Trade Activities shall apply on the date of acceptance of said customs declaration by the customs office concerned. The rates of applicable export customs duties and taxes shall be assigned based on the rates effective on the date of acceptance of said customs declaration by the customs authorities except the instances stipulated by this Customs Code.

5. The export customs duties and taxes shall be payable at the instance of submission of the temporary customs declaration to the customs office. In case the amount of export customs duties and taxes has been increased owing to the clarifying details, as stipulated by Item 4 herein, payment of the additional amounts of requisite customs duties shall be concurrent with submission of a complete and properly filled out customs declaration. In this situation, no penalties shall be applied. Excessively paid amounts levied on merchandise as export customs duties shall be reimbursed in accordance with Article 355 of this Customs Code.

The peculiarities of payment of export customs duties and taxes with regard to exportation of commodities by pipeline transport or via electric power lines shall be determined by Articles 312 and 314 of this Customs Code.

6. In case the Russian goods concerned have not been exported from the customs territory of the Russian Federation within four months from the date of acceptance of the temporary customs declaration in their regard, the customs declaration in which said goods are declared for exportation shall be regarded void.

Upon a motivated request by an interested person, the customs authorities may prolong the originally prescribed period for not more than four months.

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Content

The Customs Code Of The Russian Federation

Chapter 14. DECLARATION OF GOODS

Article 123. Goods Liable for Declaration