Coming new customs duties on goods from abroad

The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan, is considering a tough version of regulating the import of goods purchased in foreign online stores. It is likely that the meeting will introduce a new fee of 15 euros for all purchases more expensive than 22 euros and heavier than 1 kg.

According to Kommersant, the Council will consider two decisions regarding cross-border e-commerce:

The first is the establishment of customs duties in the amount of 15 euros for all purchases worth 22-150 euros and weighing 1-10 kg. As for goods cheaper than 22 euros and lighter than 1 kg, then the customs fee for them will not be charged. Parcels whose value has passed for 150 euros and / or their weight exceeds 10 kg will be subject to a customs payment of 15 euros, plus you will have to pay an amount of 30% of the customs value of the purchased products (however, at least 4 euros per 1 kg of weight ).
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Secondly, all goods, the customs value of which does not exceed 150 euros, and weight - 10 kg, will require payment of a fee of 10 euros. If these parameters are exceeded, then another 10% of the customs value will be added to 10 euros - again, at least 4 euros per 1 kg of weight.

According to Artem Sokolov, Executive Director of ACIT, these figures are quite adequate and correspond to international practice. Sokolov is also convinced that the adoption of new customs duties in the EEU countries will stimulate “healthy competition between domestic online retailers and foreign ones”.

Currently, Russian citizens are limited to the following framework: monthly customs payments are not charged on purchases in foreign online stores for an amount not exceeding 1,000 euros, while the weight of goods should not exceed 31 kg.

According to Tatyana Golendeeva, First Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS), now the issue of revising customs duties on imported goods from foreign online stores is particularly acute due to the devaluation of the ruble.

According to information from East-West Digital News, last year alone, about 15 million Russians at least once made purchases over the Internet in foreign stores. Especially for Russian buyers are interesting trading platforms in China. This year, the number of goods purchased abroad will increase by more than a third, and this means a 15% increase in cross-border trade, which will be about 240 billion rubles - in accordance with the forecasts of the Association of Online Trading Companies (ACIT).