MOSCOW: The establishment of centers to process electronic customs declarations filed via Russia’s single window should speed up cargo clearance and reduce corruption. Along with the new centers, the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) is harmonizing declaration procedures and putting more inspectors behind computers to examine paperwork rather than boxes themselves, reducing opportunities for corruption. Several centers are already operational and the FCS hopes that 95 percent of customs declarations take place via electronic systems by 2019, compared with 18 percent at present. About 35.7 percent of export documentation and 1.6 percent of import documentation is processed electronically. The new centers and shift to electronic declarations should also help to cut down on tax evasion. As it stands, some unscrupulous shippers currently misclassify cargo so that they can pay lower taxes on the shipment and then resell the imported goods at higher rates, which also puts at a competitive disadvantage shippers who comply with tax rules.
As more paperwork becomes electronic, the FCS will be able to track cargo through the Eurasian Economic Union, which should make it easier to identify companies that violate tax regulations. Along with these measures, the FCS will work to expand a three-tier system classifying shippers by the perceived risk of a customs violation. Shippers in the lowest-risk tier, which make up just 8 percent of shippers at present, will be able to have their shipments processed in a matter of minutes, rather than several hours. This will also enable the FCS to conduct targeted searches and inspections instead of blanket inspections, which regularly occur now.
For a shipper to qualify for the highest tier they must have been involved in foreign trade for at least two years with no less than 150 declarations over the same period and no violations of customs regulations. The FCS aims to have the share of shippers in the system rise from 44 percent at present to 80 percent by 2020. Alexander Bukov, head of Bulavista, a Russian textile producer, welcomed the changes, saying that it should help to drastically cut down opportunities for graft and corruption by limiting the various types of customs inspections, which can range from a cursory glance at cargo to taking samples for testing.
