MOSCOW: Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has issued an order to the Russian Federal Customs Service to significantly streamline customs clearance procedures with the aim of speeding cargo handling at Russia’s borders and seaports.
The reforms should be completed by May or June after Shuvalov decides on a raft of proposals to speed cargo clearance that are due to him by April 1, according to a spokesperson for the minister.
The FCS will also establish a new single window electronic platform able to process all of the necessary payments and documentation required by customs, the spokesperson said.
If in OECD countries, the paperwork for processing a container takes no more than five hours with a cost of $36, then in the case of Russia these figures are estimated at 43 hours and $500 respectively, according to statistics of the FCS. The cost of customs control for Russian exporters varies between $1,000 and $1,125, compared to $335 in the case of certain EU states.
The cost of inspections at the Russian border is estimated at about 300 euros per container, while the cost of a customs warehouse may vary in the range of 15,000 to 150,000 rubles daily ($230 to $2,300), according to data from the FCS. After registration of all the necessary documents, the examination of goods takes 10 to 14 days.
There are also plans for the introduction of an automatic registration of e-declaration and to accelerate the process for issuing digital signatures during cargo clearance.
The automatic registration is already being used for container exports and was introduced for imports at 12 customs stations in December, according to the FCS.
Another planned measure involves the introduction of technology allowing an importer to submit a declaration of goods regardless of location.
Leading Russian and foreign shipping companies have already welcomed the latest plans, the implementation of which would cure an acute need, they say, as unloading a container vessel sometimes requires the preparation of myriad different documents, each of which should be certified by a seal.
“When the ship arrives to the Russian port, handling of each container requires up to 40 different documents. The situation is aggravated by the fact that documents must be provided to different controllers,” said Marina Lyakisheva, a senior expert of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, a public association that represents the interests of Russian shippers.
