Practices Sectors Private clients

Customs Law and International Trade

Cross-Border Disputes ←
→ Bankruptcy

Products

The global transformations taking place in the world markets and in the relationships between states contribute not only to the changing landscape of international trade, revision of national laws and regulations, but also to the complexity of the business environment.

Our Customs Law and International Trade Practice helps clients to effectively manage risks and capitalise on new opportunities for foreign trade. Our focus on results and business interests, as well as our personalised approach to projects, helps us to solve the most complex problems.

The practice team includes lawyers with experience in international law firms, the Federal Customs Service of Russia, other customs authorities and companies participating in international economic activity. We understand the in-house procedures of the customs authorities and interact with the main regulatory authorities, such as the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Our clients include major Russian and international companies from various sectors of the economy, including energy, automotive, pharmaceutical, FMCG, agricultural and other industries. We advise both importers and exporters on a full range of legal issues in customs regulation and foreign trade activities.

Our lawyers find ways to improve international economic activity, help resolve customs disputes, facilitate promotion of legal initiatives relating to international economic activity in government agencies and solve unconventional challenges of companies using expertise in Russia and abroad.

Services
Customs protection of intellectual property and parallel imports
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  • Registration of trade marks, copyright items and geographical indications on the Customs Register of Intellectual Properties (CRIP)

  • Development and implementation of programmes for trade mark protection during commodity importation

  • Liaising with customs authorities when release of commodities is suspended

  • Delivery of training on brand protection for customs authorities

  • Advising on parallel import issues

  • Liaising with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade on updating the list of commodities allowed for parallel import

International economic activity training
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  • Customs training for customs, logistics and legal departments of companies

  • Analysis of current customs cases

  • Advanced training of customs and legal functions

  • Reduction of customs expenses as a result of improved customs and legal functions

Customs audit and customs compliance
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  • Check on customs function risk areas

  • Diagnosis of the functions of individual areas of foreign economic activity

  • Detection of errors and weak points in the customs function

  • Recommendations on eliminating breaches, errors and weak points

  • Minimisation of liability risks and optimisation of customs expenses

  • Customs monitoring

Defence in customs administrative and criminal cases
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  • Representing corporate interests in cases concerning administrative offences and conducting administrative investigations in customs regulations breach cases

  • Appeal against customs authority decisions on imposing administrative sanctions

  • Representing corporate interests in customs regulations breach cases

  • Protection of companies and their employees during pre-investigation checks and operational search actions by customs authorities

  • Protection of companies and their employees during initiation and investigation of customs criminal cases

Settlement of customs disputes
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  • Pre-trial settlement of customs disputes

  • Appeal against decisions, actions (inaction) on the part of customs stations and customs offices to higher customs authorities

  • Pre-trial reversal of decisions on adjusting customs value and reclassifying commodities

  • Judicial settlement of customs disputes

  • Representation of corporate interests in commercial courts and general jurisdiction courts

  • Challenging additional customs charges

  • Judicial recovery of excess or enforced customs charges

  • Judicial recovery of losses caused by illegal decisions or actions by customs authorities

  • Challenging Decisions of the Eurasian Economic Commission on classification of commodities in the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union

Foreign exchange regulation
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  • Advising on foreign exchange regulation and restrictions on commodity imports and exports

  • Assessment and minimisation of foreign exchange regulation risks inherent in commodity imports and exports

  • Defence in cases involving breach of foreign exchange regulation

Authorised economic operator
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  • Advising on application of authorised economic operator status

  • Recommendations on selection of optimum simplifications for an authorised economic operator

  • Evaluation of company compliance with the requirements on an authorised economic operator

  • Preparation of the requisite document set to obtain authorised economic operator status

  • Assistance in obtaining authorised economic operator status

Customs procedures
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  • Advising on application of various customs procedures in the consulting business, retail, marketplaces, aviation and maritime sectors and other industries

  • Temporary import and export opportunities and restrictions

  • Use of processing procedures in production chains

  • Use of a customs warehouse, free customs zone and other procedures

  • Recommendations on selecting the optimum customs procedure

  • Assistance in obtaining permits for use of customs procedures

  • Assessment of inability to comply with customs procedures


International supply chain structuring
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  • Supply chain structuring in the context of sanctions and other restrictions

  • Supply chain optimisation in the context of the opportunities provided by free-trade zones and duty-free treatment

  • Analysis of commercial and shipping documents in supply re-engineering

  • Recommendations on selecting the most efficient supply patterns

  • Development of supply agreements and other shipping documents for a specific bargaining model
Export control
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  • Assessment of foreign trade transactions for compliance with export control requirements

  • Recommendations for minimising risks during export control

  • Assistance in obtaining licences, identification statements and other permits

  • Appealing export control decisions

  • Defence in cases of administrative offences regarding export control

Customs audits
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  • Support during customs audits of customs value, classification of goods according to the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity, of customs facilities and other issues

  • Development of a reliable legal reasoning by the company for customs audits

  • Preparation of responses to requests from customs authorities

  • Preparation of objections to customs audit reports

  • Visits to customs authorities

  • As a result a company achieves:

    • closing of audits without additional charges
    • reduction of additional charges
    • strengthening of its legal dispute reasoning

Labelling and traceability of commodities
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  • Advising on labelling and traceability of commodities, as well as liability issues

  • Interaction with the Centre for Development of Advanced Technologies and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation when running experiments for new commodity groups

  • Assessment of company business process compliance with mandatory product labelling law

  • Assessment of opportunities for optimising customs and logistics procedures, automating labelling and traceability processes

  • Minimising risks and costs when handling labelled products


Allocating import and export quotas
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  • Analysis of application of tariff quotas to your commodities

  • Export, import and special quotas



Import and export licences and permits
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  • Advising on licensing and permitting import and export procedures, procedures for obtaining licences and permits, and liability issues

  • Determination of licences and permits for your products (licences, permits, notifications, etc.)

  • Assistance in obtaining licences, notifications and other permits, as well as opinions of other competent authorities (Federal Supervisory Agency for Information Technologies and Communications, Federal Supervisory Service for Natural Resource Use, Ministry of Culture, etc.)

  • Determination of prohibitions and restrictions on exports from the Russian Federation to unfriendly, friendly, CIS countries and the EAEU

  • Assistance in obtaining permits to export commodities from the Russian Federation


Certification of commodities and technical regulation
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  • Advising on the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union, GOST and other standards, product certification procedures and liability issues

  • Determination of certification documents for clients' products (certificates or declarations of conformity, state registration certificates, etc.)

  • Determination of the applicable Technical Regulations of the Customs Union

  • Preparation of documents for obtaining certification documents, liaising with certification authorities, laboratories and expert panels

  • Assistance in obtaining certification documents

  • Verification of issued certification documents

Customs facilities and preferences
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  • Selection of customs facilities and preferences

  • Assessment of the application, compliance with facilities, preferences for payment of customs charges

  • Assistance in obtaining confirming documents for customs facilities and preferences

  • Recapture of customs facilities and preferences after release of commodities

  • Pre-trial and court appeals against refusal of customs facilities and preferences
Country of origin of commodities
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  • Determination of the country of origin of commodities

  • Appraisal of documents to confirm the country of origin of commodities

  • Validation of preparation of non-preferential and preferential documents on the origin of commodities

  • Country of origin confirmation for public procurement purposes

  • Support during customs audits regarding the country of origin of commodities

  • Pre-trial and court appeals against refusal to accept commodity certificates of origin

  • Assistance in obtaining documents on the origin of commodities
Classification of commodities by the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity (TNVED)
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  • Selecting and checking the HS code for clients' commodities

  • Preparation of defence documentation to confirm an HS code

  • Assessment and minimisation of customs risks deriving from incorrect commodity classification

  • Assistance in seeking and preparing expert merchandising reports

  • Support of customs audits of commodity classification

  • Assessing the prospects of appealing decisions on classification of commodities

  • Pre-trial and court appeals against decisions on classification of goods

  • Provisional decisions on classification of commodities

  • Provisional decisions on import of multi-component equipment and production lines

  • Interaction with the Eurasian Economic Commission on decisions concerning classification of commodities

  • Appealing decisions of the Eurasian Economic Commission on classification of commodities in the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union

  • As a result a company saves money on reclassification of commodities by the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity and fines for incorrect Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity codes refund of illegally collected customs charges

Customs value
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  • Confirmation of customs value in intra-group transactions between related parties

  • Additional charges to the commodity price: licence fees (royalties), intra-group payments and services, “agency” VAT, dividends, transport charges, design costs, engineering costs and other charges

  • Export customs value

  • Assessment of and recommendations on contract and shipping documents to confirm customs value

  • Assessment of weak points in declaration of the customs value and preparation of defence documentation

  • Tailoring of supply agreements, licensing, process-related and other agreements to the rules for determining customs value

  • Support during customs value audits

  • Assessing the prospects when appealing against decisions to adjust the customs value

  • Pre-trial and court appeal of decisions on customs value adjustments

  • Provisional decisions on customs value

  • As a result a company achieves savings on customs value adjustments and fines for untruthful customs value refund of illegally collected customs charges


Products

We advised:

Alltech, an International Manufacturer of Animal Feeds

on defence against fiscal claims by customs authorities in relation to imports of feed additives for Russian agricultural enterprises in connection with reclassification of feed additives, and represented the company before the Eurasian Economic Commission on classification of these products

A Global Manufacturer of Marine Engines in the EAEU Court of Justice

in a dispute with the Eurasian Economic Commission over reclassification of marine engines used, inter alia, by the icebreaker fleet on the Northern Sea Route and imposition of a customs duty on their import into the EAEU

An International Manufacturer of Medical Equipment and Digital Solutions

in a dispute with the customs authority over refund of overpaid VAT in connection with medical equipment importation into Russia

Perfume and Cosmetics Industry, Automotive Industry and Other Industry Companies

in connection with customs inspections of dividends to be added to the customs value of imported goods

Fambition, a Chinese Manufacturer of Mining Equipment,

on a court challenge to adjustment of the customs value of loading equipment for work in underground mines

International Companies from Various Industries,

in particular, an international manufacturer of contact lenses, a manufacturer of energy-saving equipment, a Russian IT industry leader and other companies in connection with pre-trial resolution of disputes over adjustment of the customs value of imported products

A Russian Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation

in connection with a dispute over the customs value of aircraft components with regard to development costs. The lawyers defended the company at all stages of the customs dispute, from supporting customs inspections to representing the company in court

Team

Alexander Kirilchenko
Counsel, attorney — Customs Law and International Trade

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