| Customs officers clarified sanitary requirements for participants in foreign economic activity Russian customs officials have clarified the list of goods for which sanitary and epidemiological reports or state registration certificates must be issued. From now on, they will not be able to arbitrarily demand sanitary certificates from cargo carriers.
The joint letter of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) and Roszdrav, published last Friday, firstly introduced a single list of goods for which sanitary documentation is required, and secondly, defined these goods through codes of the commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity (TN VED ). The fact is that earlier, before this letter came into force, there were several documents on the basis of which customs officers had the right to demand permits from carriers. These were orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, containing descriptive lists of goods for which a sanitary certificate must be obtained. The Ministry of Health did not link these lists to customs codes, so in practice customs officers could demand sanitary certificates for almost all types of transported cargo. For example, if products were imported from an epidemic-prone region, a sanitary certificate was required not only for food products, which in itself is natural, but, for example, for books or magazines.
The largest carriers, regularly importing consignments of the same products, adapted to customs requirements. But all other importers had to call customs points in advance, first learning about possible claims to documents that employees of a particular customs point might have. In mid-summer, several importers who suffered losses as a result of unjustified delays in cargo even tried to challenge in court the arbitrary interpretation of the list of goods for which it is necessary to obtain epidemiological permission. But now, most likely, the trial will not develop: the letter from the Federal Customs Service and Roszdrav defines clear rules of the game.
The list of goods for which a sanitary certificate is now required consists of approximately four hundred items. And it includes not only food products, toys, medical devices, shoes, clothing, building materials, but also such exotic goods as wigs, false eyebrows, eyelashes, clothing patterns, mittens (fingerless gloves), corsets, suspenders, garters, insoles, heel pads, leg warmers, gaiters, mate (South American Paraguayan tea), tapioca (starch from the roots of cassava - a tuberous bush).
The list is extremely specific. For example, it mentions not just birds' eggs, but "birds' eggs, in shell, preserved or boiled, unshelled eggs, and egg yolks, fresh, dried, boiled or steamed, molded, frozen or otherwise preserved, with or without no added sugar." And not just any carpets, but “knotted, woven, non-tufted or non-flocked carpets, including kilim, sumac, kermani and similar hand-knotted carpets, textile floor coverings and felt coverings.” A separate item from the list of toys includes dolls that “represent only people.”
At the same time, special attention will continue to be paid to the products at customs. Although each product is mentioned with its own foreign economic activity code in a wide variety of culinary varieties, for example, “pasta, whether or not cooked, filled (with meat or other products) or unfilled, or otherwise prepared, such like spaghetti, pasta, noodles, cones, dumplings, ravioli, cannelloni, couscous,” Roszdrav and customs officers decided to play it safe. To ensure that no edible product is left out, “food products not elsewhere specified or included” appear as a separate number on the list. Irina SKLYAROVA |
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