TIR in RUSSIAN FEDERATION 14/9/2013 Erik Willems Customs expert – UNECE TIR Secretariat Yalta September 2013

Customs Transit National transitor International transit (e.g. TIR) 2 Country C Country B Doc/seal/guarantee Country D Same documents /seals/guarantees

FCS decision of 4 July 3 …. the use of TIR Carnets will be carried out only if the customs transit is conducted under the common measures stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 217 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, so as to ensure the customs duties and taxes payment….  Postponed till : 14 September  Reasons : accumulated debt, legal…

problems : National guarantee on top of the TIR carnet means : provide national documentation Possible an additional customs inspection Extra costs for the guarantee

Importance of Russia for TIR (source IRU) 5

Importance of Russia (source : IRU) 6 TIR Contracting Party Russia Poland Ukraine Lithuania Belarus Latvia Estonia Moldova Turkey Finland Slovakia Czech Rep. Hungary Serbia TIR Carnets terminated in Russia 564' ' ' '405 86'107 81'150 42'564 34'287 13'356 12'712 12'353 11'960 11'32911’288

Reasons invoked : debts extract press release : As of 1 June 2013 the total amount of debt …exceeds 20 billion roubles…. There has been a tendency to increase the debt in recent years: in 2010 it amounted to 7.3 million rubles, in 2011 to 13.6 million rubles, in 2012 to 16.6 million rubles and for the first 5 months of 2013, to 10.1 million rubles :  mostly old debts, contested : Urgency?  10 million rubbles = US $ : Urgency ? Workgroup established

Reasons invoked Legal : extract press release : Moreover, the security provided by ASMAP regarding its obligations towards the customs authorities does not correspond to the customs legislation of the Customs Union and the Russian Federation legislation on customs affairs  to be clarified, urgency ?

Communication Art 42 bis TIR convention : Obligation of communication of control measures Harmonization Convention 1982 (note also Ukraine should have communicate art. 316 of their new customs code)

FCS : Russia stays a contracting party of the TIR convention ! ASMAP stays the National Guaranteeing Association !

Breach of the Convention : Art 3,b : …transport operation must be guaranteed by associations… Art 4 : Goods carried under the TIR procedures shall not be subjected to the payment or deposit of import or export duties and taxes at Customs offices en route Art 6, 2: An association shall not be approved in any country unless it guarantees also cover …TIR carnets issued by foreign associations ……

Other issues : Is Russian Customs allowed to take such a decision ? TIR transports via Belorussia / Kazakhstan ?

Economic impact of the decision : Increase of Transport prices ?? Long queues a the border ??  Denied by FCS  When using TIR Carnet certainly an increase in the costs

Dispute : TIR Convention : Negotation (Russia did not accept arbritation) WTO : dispute settlement procedure Reciprocity (counter-measures against transport operators from Russia)

What is done : Letters from UNECE to : Director-general of Russian Customs Minister of Foreign Affairs Press releases Extra meeting of TIRExB – (The TIR Executive Board (TIRExB) has been established by the Contracting Parties to the Convention (Article 58 ter) to enhance international cooperation among Customs authorities in the application of the TIR Convention and to establish an inter-governmental organ to supervise and to provide support in the application of the TIR procedure and the international guarantee system)

TIRExB statement of 27/08/2013 TIRExB : was of the view that the FCS decision would be in breach of the TIR Convention; urged FCS to properly apply the TIR Convention and to abandon the introduction of the announced measure; called upon the parties concerned to accelerate the negotiations and find solutions which would remove the concerns raised by FCS; declared it readiness to further assist the Russian Federation in finding ways and means to ensure smooth functioning of the TIR procedure in Russia, in line with modern Customs and business requirements.

For any further information : UNECE TIR SECRETARIAT, Transport Division 8-14, Avenue de la Paix CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Web: