Goods in foreign online stores for buyers from the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia) may become more expensive, and their acquisition will become more difficult. This may be a consequence of upcoming changes to the legislation of the EAEU, writes the PrimePress agency.
Currently, amendments to the EAEU Customs Code have been prepared, which provide for a number of innovations regarding goods purchased by individuals outside the union. These changes, according to market participants, will complicate the processing of foreign purchases, and may also lead to an increase in the cost of purchased goods, and the import of some goods will become completely impossible.
Individual goods ordered from foreign online stores will be subject to customs clearance
The prepared changes highlight cross-border e-commerce products in a separate category. It is also envisaged to introduce the concept of an e-commerce operator institution – he will carry out customs declarations, pay customs duties and taxes in relation to such goods, and be responsible for unreliable customs declarations. For goods ordered on foreign online platforms, it is expected that a new type of declaration will be used during customs declaration (declaration for e-commerce goods). At the same time, the opportunity for individuals to register goods independently, in addition to using an authorized operator, is not closed.
For e-commerce goods imported from outside the EAEU, it is planned to create special customs warehouses (analogous to “bonded” warehouses, goods to which are received without customs clearance, payment of VAT, excise taxes and customs duties, etc.).
The current law assumes that goods purchased on foreign Internet platforms are imported into the EAEU as products for personal use. Amendments to the law provide that goods for personal use, in terms of taxation, will be recognized as goods that an individual imports or exports across the border in luggage, or is sent to his address by another individual, or such a parcel is delivered by mail or by a carrier. In addition, the supply of certain product categories may be limited. For example, smartphones, baby monitors, medicines, cheeses and sausages, vegetables and fruits, animal feed, as well as goods that are marked in Russia with the “Honest Mark”: perfumes, fur coats, shoes, clothing, home textiles, cameras.
