CUSTOMS BROKER (agent)
Article 139. Customs Broker (agent)
1. A customs broker (agent) is defined as a Russian juridical person included in the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) pursuant to Article 140. A state entity may not be certified as a customs broker (agent).
2. A customs broker (agent) acts as an agent for a declarant or of another interested person performing a customs operation pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth by this Customs Code.
3. A customs broker (agent) has the right to confine the sphere of its activities to customs operations with specific kinds of merchandise as per the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade, or to customs operations with the goods and commodities conveyed across the customs border by specific means of transport, or to individual customs operations, or to the customs operations limited by the framework of a region covered by one (several) customs office (customs offices).
4. The relations between a customs broker (agent), the declarants and other interested persons are established on a contractual basis. A customs broker (agent) is not permitted to refuse to conclude a contract for a service or an operation if it has requisite facilities for providing such service or for carrying out such operation.
Article 140. Terms of Entry onto the Register of Customs Agents
The terms of entry onto the Register of Customs brokers are as follows:
(1) availability in the applicant’s staff of a minimum of two certified specialists in customs clearance in possession of the respective qualification licences (Article 146);
(2) availability of complete original authorised (equity) capital, authorised investment fund or of the applicant’s share therein;
(3) guarantee of dutiable payments as per Article 339 of this Customs Code;
(4) availability of the applicant’s civil liability insurance policy, which may occur as a result of damage, caused to the property belonging to represented persons or due to a breach by the customs broker of its agreements with such persons. The minimal insurance premium thereto should amount to 20 million roubles.
Article 141. Application for Entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies)
1. An entry certifying inclusion of a juridical person onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) shall be based on the application submitted by the [juridical] person meeting the criteria specified in Articles 139 and 140 of this Customs Code.
2. Said application for entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) should contain:
(1) an application to the customs office concerned with a request to be included onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies);
(2) information on the applicant’s name, organisational and juridical form, its location, open bank accounts, as well as the list and locations of the applicant’s separate structural divisions through which the applicant is planning to carry out its operations in capacity of a customs broker (agent) as of the date of submission of the application;
(3) information pertaining to the size of the applicant’s paid-up authorised (equity) capital, authorised investment fund or of the applicant’s share therein;
(4) information on the applicant’s intention to confine the sphere of its activities to customs operations with specific kinds of merchandise as per the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade, or to customs operations with the goods and commodities conveyed across the customs border by specific means of transport, or to individual customs operations, or to the customs operations limited by the framework of a region covered by one (several) customs office (customs offices), or carry out its activities without any limitations;
(5) information on the applicant’s staff qualifications in customs clearance procedures as of the date of submission of the application;
(6) information on guarantees of dutiable payments as per Article 339 of this Customs Code;
(7) information on the applicant’s civil liability insurance policy.
3. The application for entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) should be supplemented with the following documents certifying the declared information, including:
- the applicant’s incorporation documents and the document certifying the applicant’s entry as a juridical person in the General State Register of Juridical Persons;
- the certificate of the applicant’s state registration as a juridical person;
- the certificate of the applicant’s registration by the tax authorities;
- the certificates of the applicant’s staff qualifications in customs clearance procedures;
- the documents certifying the size of the completely formed authorised (equity) capital, the authorised investment fund or the applicant’s share therein;
- the documents certifying the applicant’s guarantees of dutiable payments as per Article 339 of this Customs Code;
- the bank references certifying the applicant’s accounts opened in them;
- the applicant’s insurance policy.
Article 142. Certificate of Entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies)
1. The certificate on entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) shall contain:
(1) the name, organisational and juridical form and location of the customs broker (agent) and of its separate structural divisions carrying out the functions of a customs broker (agent);
(2) information on the amounts and form of guarantee of dutiable payments to be made as per Article 339 of this Customs Code;
(3) information on restrictions of the sphere of operations of a customs broker (agent) if imposed.
2. Validity of the Certificate of Entry into the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) is not limited by time.
Article 143. The Rights of a Customs Broker (agent)
1. In carrying out customs operations a customs broker (agent) shall have the same rights as the [juridical] person that has empowered the customs broker (agent) to represent its interests in its relations with the customs authorities.
2. A customs broker (agent) has the right to warrant of the customs authorities, on behalf of the person it represents, fulfilment of the obligations assumed by said person with regard to guaranteed payment of customs duties and taxes if provisions of this Customs Code require a guarantee for such payments.
3. A customs broker (agent) has the right to demand that the person he represents furnish the documents and the information that may be required for fulfilling customs clearance procedures including the documents containing sensitive information constituting commercial, banking and other secrets protected by law or any other requisite confidential information and to obtain such documents and such information within the prescribed time limits ensuring observance of the provisions of this Customs Code.
4. At the instance of signing a contract with the person to be represented the customs broker (agent) has the right:
- to offer various discounts with regard to remuneration of its services and provide privileges for specific categories of persons it represents;
- to demand, as a precondition for concluding a contract with said person, that the latter abide by its commitments in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Article 144. Obligations and Responsibilities of a Customs Broker (agent)
1. In the process of customs registration/clearance procedures, obligations of a customs broker (agent) are predicated on the terms and conditions set forth by this Customs Code with regard to the customs operations, which may be required for subjecting goods to one or another customs control procedure. The fact of fulfilment of such operations by a customs broker (agent) does not oblige the latter to carry out any other operations, such as completion of a customs procedure, or assume any other responsibilities which, according to the provisions of this Customs Code, are only assigned to the person specified in Article 16 of this Customs Code, a carrier, or any other person.
2. A customs broker (agent) shall pay requisite customs duties and taxes for the declared goods if the terms of the goods customs procedure requires such payment. At the instance of declaring goods, the customs broker (agent) in accordance with this Customs Code bears the same responsibility for the disbursement of customs duties and taxes as the declarant.
3. Any information obtained by a customs broker (agent) from the persons he represents constituting commercial, banking and other secrets protected by law or any other requisite confidential information may not be made public, or used by the customs broker (agent) and/or its employees for their personal goals, or revealed to other persons except for the cases stipulated by federal law.
4. A customs broker (agent) shall be obliged to keep a record of the goods subjected to customs operations and submit reports thereof to customs authorities (Article 364).
5. The customs broker’s (agent) obligations and accountability before the customs authorities shall prevail over his contract with the person he represents.
Article 145. Withdrawal of Certificate of Entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies)
The Certificate of Entry onto the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) may be revoked by the customs authorities in the following situations:
(1) breach by the customs broker (agent) of at least one of the terms of his entry in the Register of Customs Brokers (Proxies) set forth by Article 140 of this Customs Code;
(2) multiple cases of application of administrative penalties to the customs broker (agent) due to non-fulfilment by the latter of his responsibilities or his administrative offences in the sphere of the customs system stipulated by Articles 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.15 and 16.22 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.
Article 146. Certified Specialist in Customs Clearance Procedures
1. A certified customs clearance specialist may be any natural person meeting the qualification requirements established by the Federal Customs Authority and having a licence qualifying him or her as a certified customs clearance specialist.
2. A certified customs clearance specialist carries out his (or her) duties as an employee of a customs broker (agent).
Article 147. Attestation for Compliance with Qualification Requirements
1. The attestation for compliance with qualifications requirements (hereinafter, attestation) constitutes a test of qualifications of natural persons who have applied for a licence to carry out customs clearance procedures. The attestation is conducted in the form of a qualification test. The person who has successfully passed the qualification test is issued a Qualification Certificate [licence] of a specialist in customs clearance procedures. The term of validity of this Qualification Certificate [licence] is not limited by time.
2. A person applying for the Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist shall need to meet the following criteria:
- availability of a higher-education diploma issued by a Russian state-accredited institution of higher professional education or a higher-education certificate issued by a higher-education institution of a foreign country which needs to be supplemented with a formal reference attesting to its equivalence to a Russian state certificate of higher education;
- minimum two years of working experience.
The order of attestation, the list of required documents to be submitted concurrently with the application for attestation, the programs of qualification tests and their sequence are determined by the Federal Customs Authority.
Note: any person meeting the requirements set for the applicants, regardless of their targeted training for the passage of this test, shall be admitted for a qualification test. The applicants’ qualifications are tested by the customs officers nominated by the Federal Customs Authority.
3. Starting from the year following the attestation year, each certified customs clearance specialist shall be obliged to undergo a biennial 40-hour skills upgrading course approved by the Federal Customs Authority. Training of specialists at the skills upgrading courses shall be conducted by properly licensed instructors.
Article 148. Grounds for the Annulment of a Qualification Certificate [Licence] for Specialists in Customs Clearance Procedures
1. The Qualification Certificate [licence] for specialists in customs clearance procedures shall be annulled in case:
(1) it has been established that a Qualification Certificate [licence] of a specialist in customs clearance procedures was received with the use of forged documents;
(2) a court ruling has been enforced penalising the offender by suspending his (or her) licence to act as a certified customs clearance specialist for a designated period of time;
(4) breach by the certified customs clearance specialist of the requirements stipulated by Item 3 of Article 144 of this Customs Code;
(3) multiple cases of application of administrative penalties to the certified customs clearance specialist due to non-fulfilment by the latter of its responsibilities or its administrative offences in the sphere of customs system stipulated by Articles 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.15 and 16.22 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.
(4) breach by the certified customs clearance specialist of the requirement to undergo skill-upgrading courses as stipulated Item 3 of Article 147 of this Customs Code.
2. A decision with regard to the annulment of a Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist is made by the Federal Customs Authority through the passage of a motivated resolution with regard to the annulment of a Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist. A copy of this resolution is directed to the person concerned within three days from the date of its adoption.
3. The person whose Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist has been annulled has the right to appeal the decision with regard to the annulment of a Qualification Certificate [licence] as per Chapter 7 of this Customs Code.
4. The person whose Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist has been annulled has no right to re-apply for a new Qualification Certificate [licence]:
- within one year from the date of passage of the resolution to annul the Qualification Certificate [licence] of a customs clearance specialist on the grounds specified in Sub-Items 1) and 3) of Item 1 herein;
- within the term specified by the court ruling if the Qualification Certificate [licence] was annulled on the grounds specified in Sub-Item 2) of Item 1 herein;
- throughout the term when a person is regarded as administratively penalised in case the Qualification Certificate [licence] was annulled on the grounds specified in Sub-Item 4) of Item 1 herein.
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