On the Causes of Violations of Norms Governing Customs Procedures

Abstract

The Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union contains a large number of provisions on the procedure for the correct use of customs procedures, including a detailed description of the relevant restrictions. The practice of various courts of the Russian Federation allows us to conclude that there is a significant number of administrative offenses related to non-compliance with customs procedures. In most cases, the objective side is identified in the process of various control measures implemented by the customs authorities and the presence of offenses is not in doubt. But there are more complex cases. A specific situation is considered, on the example of which the causes of such conflicts are highlighted. They are: the unclear provisions on the procedure for declaring goods imported into the customs territory as components of vehicles previously placed under the customs procedure «temporary import», as well as the lack of criteria separating the concepts of «overhaul, modernization» and «maintenance». According to the author, one of the criteria determining the difference between these concepts may be the amount spent in the implementation of manipulations with the goods. For example, if the amount spent on the maintenance of temporarily imported goods exceeds a certain percentage of the value of the goods, such operations should be considered capital repairs. This means that it is mandatory to change the customs procedure by submitting a declaration for the goods to the customs authority. Otherwise, the manipulations performed should be considered maintenance, in which the customs procedure should not be changed.