Translated material
Our customs officers are in for a shock
As Mr. Danet stated, he discussed customs issues related to Russia’s participation in the WTO with the Chairman of the State Customs Committee, including the fact that the Russian language will now be used in international trade as a working language. Another serious innovation is that an office of the World Customs Organization against smuggling will be created in Moscow in the near future, which will collect and analyze information on this problem. According to Mr. Danet, this will create a so-called “territorial balance” - today in Europe such offices already operate in Cologne and Warsaw, and opening it in Moscow will close the “triangle”.
At the meeting with the head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin, they discussed Russia’s proposed accession to the WTO. When this event takes place, it will become a “culture shock” for Russian customs, Mr. Danet said, and the task of the World Customs Organization is to help the State Customs Committee adapt to the new conditions as much as possible. WTO decisions are mandatory for its participants, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization emphasized, and in this regard, Russian customs will have to work according to fundamentally new rules. This applies, in particular, to determining the country of origin of goods, conducting customs assessments and protecting intellectual property. Russian customs should not become a brake on the development of economic and trade relations in the context of expanding freedom for participants in foreign economic activity, which accession to the WTO will inevitably entail.
Separately, Mr. Danet touched upon the topic of the new Customs Code, which has not yet been adopted, and many of its provisions are still in the process of approval between the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Economic Development. The Code was examined by the World Customs Organization, and, as Mr. Danet said, the Russian side itself came up with such an initiative. According to Mr. Danet, the principles laid down in the new edition of the Customs Code are fully consistent with those currently used in global customs and trade practice.