Customs duty reassessment under Decree No. 2240: a new risk for importers working via the EAEU
Imports via the EAEU are under pressure: Russian customs increasingly carry out customs duty reassessment under Decree No. 2240 on goods from unfriendly countries, as if they had been imported directly.
Foreign trade participants importing goods into Russia from EAEU member states are increasingly receiving decisions on additional customs payments based on Russian Government Decree No. 2240. The decree sets out how duties and taxes are reassessed for goods from unfriendly countries that enter Russia through other EAEU states.
If goods were first imported into, for example, Belarus and then shipped on to Russia, customs may treat the delivery as a way of circumventing higher duty rates and bans, and recalculate payments under the rules for direct imports.
How a reassessment arises
What the problem is
Disputes on these grounds are already before Russian commercial (arbitrazh) courts. Emerging case law will show how far courts are willing to consider the economic rationale of supply chains and the good faith of importers.
