Preliminary notification of customs authorities

Institute of Advance Information

One of the areas of implementation of information technologies in customs clearance is the institute of preliminary informing of customs authorities . The essence of preliminary information is quite accurately stated in the disposition of Art. 42 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union (Agreement dated November 27, 2009 between the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation “On the Customs Code of the Customs Union”) (hereinafter referred to as the Customs Code of the Customs Union): authorized economic operators, carriers, including customs carriers, customs representatives and other interested parties may submit to the customs authorities in electronic form preliminary information about goods intended to be moved across the customs border, international transport vehicles moving such goods, the time and place of arrival of goods into the customs territory of the Customs Union or departure from such territory, passengers arriving to the customs territory of the customs union or departing from such a territory .

Preliminary information is the basis for the implementation of the Framework Standards for Security and Facilitation of Trade, the introduction of integrated supply chain management within the framework of the ongoing work of the World Customs Organization (Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 10, 2006 N 192 “On approval of the Concept of the system of preliminary information for the customs authorities of the Russian Federation”).

Cases of mandatory provision of preliminary information when moving goods across the customs border of the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation must be determined by a decision of the Commission of the Customs Union depending on the type of transport on which the goods are moved (Article 3 of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Belarus , by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 05/21/2010 (Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Republic of Belarus, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 05/21/2010 “On the submission and exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the Customs Union”). Such a decision not currently accepted.

At the same time, submission of preliminary information to the customs post located in the seaport by the operator of the sea terminal in advance of the approach of the sea vessel to the berth of the seaport is one of the prerequisites for the implementation of the “dry port” technology, enshrined in the Procedure for carrying out customs operations with goods upon their arrival to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in seaports and their movement from places of arrival to places of temporary storage, approved by Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 18, 2010 N 510 (Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 18, 2010 N 510 “On approval of the Procedure for carrying out customs operations with goods upon arrival to the customs territory of the Russian Federation in seaports and their movement from places of arrival to places of temporary storage").

On the system of preliminary informing the customs authorities of the Russian Federation

ABOUT THE SYSTEM OF PRELIMINARY INFORMING TO THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ABOUT GOODS AND VEHICLES PROVIDED FOR MOVEMENT AROSS THE CUSTOMS BORDER OF THE CUSTOMS UNION BY RAILWAY TRANSPORT

ANDREY ASTRAKHAN

LLC "Customs Brokerage Center"

General Director, Ph.D.

KONSTANTIN STOGOV

LLC "Customs Brokerage Center"

Deputy General Director – Head of Department

information technologies

In this article, we analyze the results of preliminary information (PI) of the customs authorities of the Russian Federation about goods and vehicles imported into the customs territory of the Customs Union using the example of the Posin railway checkpoint (RCP). The point is located at the Sebezh railway station (Sebezh station) of the Oktyabrskaya Railway, a branch of Russian Railways OJSC.

According to paragraph 1 of Article 18 of the Federal Law of November 27, 2010 No. 311-FZ “On customs regulation in the Russian Federation”, the main criteria for assessing the work of customs authorities are the speed of customs operations when importing goods into the Russian Federation, as well as the reduction of costs for interested parties when performing customs operations.

Order No. 31 of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated 02/09/2010 established that the duration of stops for international trains at checkpoints should be sufficient to carry out state control.

The law limits the time for completing customs operations (if there is preliminary information on one consignment) to 15 minutes. The corresponding norm is contained in the regulatory documents of the Federal Customs Service of Russia (order No. 1230 of October 3, 2008 and subsequent amendments made to it).

The volume of shipping documents for consignments on a train (especially for block container trains) is usually quite large.

Even if a container train has 50 wagons and one consignment per wagon (which is not typical for a container train), the standard time for completing customs operations of the train will be 12.5 hours, despite the fact that the total travel time of a container train, for example, from the port of Riga to Moscow, is no more than two days.

According to clause 13 of the Action Plan (“Road Map”) “Improving customs procedures”, approved by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 29, 2012 No. 1125-r, it is necessary to reduce the time frame for customs authorities to carry out operations related to state control at railway checkpoints, when provided that the necessary information (documents) is provided regarding the goods and vehicles and the goods/vehicles are not identified as risky deliveries requiring additional document verification and/or inspection. The indicator for achieving this goal is to reduce the idle time of freight trains at the checkpoint to 2 hours.

Analysis of train processing at the Posin railway station. Sebezh shows that the time required to carry out all forms of state control goes beyond the standards established for the station. The planned time, taken in the study as a standard, for the total time of processing documents is 300 minutes (5 hours), the total time of train parking is 320 minutes (5 hours 20 minutes) (see Fig. 1).

According to JSC Russian Railways, on average at station. Sebezh receives 10–11 foreign trains daily. During the year, almost 3,727 import trains cross the customs border of the Customs Union through this railway border crossing point. Empty trains predominate among them (approximately 63% of the total). This distribution is explained by the raw material structure of the Russian Federation’s exports: trains with export cargo go abroad and return empty. It is known that the time to clear an empty train is significantly less than the time to clear a train with imported cargo.

The station receives approximately 1,379 trains with imported cargo per year (average number per month - 115 trains, average number per day - 4 trains).

Based on the results of an analysis of the processing time of documents by regulatory authorities at the station and train parking, the average processing time of documents for a train with imported cargo is 7 hours 21 minutes, and for parking – 9 hours 01 minutes. This significantly exceeds the standard.

Picture 1

Total time for processing documents and total time for train parking, in hh:mm

What are the reasons for this situation? How can we improve the process of customs operations at railway checkpoints, how to speed up control procedures and increase the throughput of railway checkpoints?

In accordance with the Album of formats for electronic forms of documents (approved by order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated January 28, 2008 No. 52), information from both transport and commercial documents is required to be included in the electronic PI document.

Currently, the Limited Liability Company "Customs Brokersky"), as an authorized customs representative of JSC Russian Railways, submits preliminary information to the Central Information and Technical Customs Administration of the Federal Customs Service of Russia (CITTU FCS of Russia) before the train arrives at the Posin PI railway checkpoint, where the information is located about the train's consignments and empty cars in its composition. In response, CITTU FCS of Russia returns the preliminary information identifier to the address of TBC LLC.

The Russian Federal Customs Service identifier is presented to the customs post on paper together with other paper documents only when informing the customs authority at the railway border crossing point about the arrival of a train into the customs territory of the Customs Union.

Today, the customs official at the railway checkpoint does not know that a PI has occurred until the identifier arrives on paper.

The content of the information that was submitted in advance before the arrival of the train to the customs territory of the Customs Union is familiarized to the official of the customs authority at the railway border crossing point only after he enters the identifier into the software package “Checkpoint” (CPS “PP”).

Our daily practical work allows us to draw the following conclusion: currently, preliminary information is not analyzed automatically using a risk management system at the federal level, its results are not communicated to the customs authority at the railway checkpoint before the arrival of the train to the customs territory of the Customs Union, and, as a result, , officials of this body cannot prepare in advance for customs operations and select the necessary forms of customs control.

The experience of implementing the CPS "ZhDPP" at border customs posts shows that the PI can speed up customs operations at the ZHBCP only when 100% PI is ensured for all cargo (goods) transported by trains arriving at the ZHBCP.

Thus, it is already clear that the main way to reduce the time of customs control and the performance of customs operations by customs officials in relation to goods and vehicles at the railway border crossing point is to transfer the time spent on creating electronic documents on consignments and submitting them to the customs authorities and their preliminary analysis by customs authorities at stages preceding in time the very fact of the train’s arrival at the customs territory. Only the availability of sufficient information in terms of composition and quality in advance, before the train arrives at the customs territory, can speed up customs control and the performance of customs operations by customs officials in relation to goods and vehicles at the railway checkpoint. Consequently, one of the main ways to reduce the time of train clearance is to develop the UI concept towards a clearer formalization of the processes of its use and ensuring the reuse of this information at all stages of customs control.

The introduction of mandatory PI on goods and vehicles imported into the customs territory of the Customs Union by rail can be considered as the main tool for reducing the time spent on customs operations at railway border crossing points, increasing the efficiency of customs control and more rational use of government resources.

Currently, according to the Customs Code of the Customs Union, prior notification is not mandatory. The current legislation of the Customs Union does not provide for the mandatory submission by participants of foreign economic activity to customs authorities of preliminary information about the goods being transported.

When developing a draft Solution, the following features must be taken into account. Goods are transported by rail as part of a train, and customs operations at border points are carried out entirely by train. In this case, registration of the fact of arrival is issued for all cars on the train - both empty cars, and those placed under the customs transit procedure, and those placed under other customs procedures at this railway checkpoint. It is in order to optimize the process of customs control and carry out customs operations in relation to goods and vehicles upon their arrival in the customs territory of the Customs Union at the railway border crossing point, to reduce the time of customs operations over the railway train at the railway border crossing point, the simultaneous presence in the information system of the carrier (his authorized customs representative) is assumed ) information about the train, about all empty carriages of the train and about all consignments carried by this train.

To do this, it is necessary to formalize the obligation of the railway carrier to provide the information required by the customs authorities in a timely manner and in full, for the entire arriving import train.

Taking into account the above, the draft Decision on introducing mandatory preliminary information in railway transport should be based on the following principles:

the application of the customs authorities’ PI on all goods and vehicles before the arrival of the train should actually reduce the time for completing customs operations in relation to imported goods and vehicles;
minimizing the time of customs control and the implementation of customs operations by customs authorities at the railway border crossing point upon the arrival of the train to the customs territory of the Customs Union. It occurs due to the fact that in advance, before the vehicle crosses the customs border, a decision is made on whether the imported goods can be located in the customs territory, the form of customs control is selected based on the application of a risk management system (RMS) to the preliminary information, preliminary information supplemented by data from inspection and inspection complexes. If the goods may be located in the customs territory, but it is necessary to make a decision to carry out inspection operations, inspection operations should be carried out not at the railway checkpoint station, but by the customs authority in whose area the station equipped with an inspection platform is located along the route of the goods, or by the customs authority of the station destination of the goods;
customs authorities must perform actions to process PI before the train arrives at the railway checkpoint, and also inform the administration of the railway station at the railway checkpoint before the arrival of the train that it is necessary to carry out customs control, which will require planning shunting operations and uncouplings;
centralization by the carrier of information about all consignments planned to cross the customs border of the Customs Union, with the aim of subsequently grouping this information in accordance with the composition of the import train for transferring it to the TsITTU FCS of Russia before the train arrives at the railway border crossing point. The experience of implementing the CPS “PP” at railway border crossing points shows that PI can have the effect of speeding up customs operations at railway crossing points only with 100% customs clearance for all goods and vehicles on a train arriving at the railway border crossing point;
one-time input of information into information systems – its repeated use.

The fundamental difference between the existing mechanism for information interaction between customs authorities and foreign trade participants at railway border crossing points and the promising mechanism is the transfer of time costs for creating electronic documents about consignments, submitting them to customs authorities and their preliminary analysis by customs authorities to the stages preceding in time the fact of the train’s arrival at customs territory.

The development of PI of customs authorities will reduce the time the train stops at the checkpoint. The application of the principles of a “single window” and public-private partnership will unify and simplify the information interaction between regulatory authorities and the carrier at the checkpoint.

The use of a promising mechanism for information interaction between customs authorities and the railway carrier at the railway border crossing point will significantly reduce the processing time of documents and the total time of train parking.

Unified electronic data should serve as the basis for a promising mechanism for information interaction, which will lead to a significant reduction in paper document flow. This, in turn, will reduce costs and the number of errors when working with documents, and reduce the amount of time for processing them.

Based on data from the daily practice of TBC LLC in the dissertation research of graduate student of the Russian Customs Academy A.V. Bondarenko “Improving the mechanism of information interaction between customs authorities and participants in foreign economic activity when moving goods by rail”, the following conclusions were made.

Thus, the processing time for documents for a train with imported cargo, if the measures described above are implemented, will be 2 hours 35 minutes, and the total time the train stops will be 2 hours 55 minutes.

Figure 2 shows that the use of a promising information interaction mechanism reduces the document processing time for a train with imported goods by 145 minutes (2 hours 25 minutes), or by 48% compared to the standard document processing time approved at Sebezh station. The reduction in total parking time reaches 145 minutes (2 hours 25 minutes), or by 45%.

Figure 2

The effect of reducing the processing time of documents and train parking through the use of a promising interaction mechanism

Figure 3 shows that the use of a promising information interaction mechanism reduces the document processing time for a train with imported goods by 286 minutes (4 hours 46 minutes), or 2.8 times compared to the current average document processing time at Sebezh station. The reduction in total parking time reaches 366 minutes (6 hours 1 minute), or more than 3 times.

Figure 3

Comparison of a promising interaction mechanism with the existing one in terms of time spent on document processing and train parking

At the Posin railway border crossing point alone, the effect of reducing time due to customs authorities analyzing preliminary information before the train arrives at the customs territory and selecting forms of customs control for the carrier alone can bring up to 18 million rubles in savings per year and reduce train downtime by 2.5 times.

In addition, the promising mechanism for information interaction between customs authorities and the railway carrier proposed by TBC LLC, in addition to reducing the downtime of trains at the railway border crossing point, will lead to simplification of customs and other operations, which, in turn, will lead to a reduction in costs for customs authorities and participants in foreign trade activities .

Figure 4

The principle of achieving the effect of reducing train downtime at the Posin railway crossing point

In order to implement the proposed principles and achieve a positive economic effect by all parties in the transportation process, it seems advisable for all shippers and forwarders to make it a rule to work out transport and shipping documents with all participants in the transportation process before the start of the transportation itself. At the same time, risks are minimized and the movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border of the Customs Union is accelerated.

TBC LLC is ready to accept from shippers and forwarders along the railway network sets of transport and shipping documents for each consignment planned for import into the customs territory of the Customs Union, for their analysis for completeness, sufficiency and consistency of data and their compliance with the requirements of customs legislation.

Paths and timing

Submission of preliminary information is carried out electronically through the interaction of the information system of the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union and the information systems of interested parties or through WEB portals of the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union (Article 6 of the Agreement). The most convenient model of preliminary informing customs authorities through the Internet portal of electronic declaration of the Federal Customs Service of Russia seems to be the most convenient. On the Internet portals of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus and the Customs Control Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is difficult to go through the online registration procedure for the subsequent submission of preliminary information in electronic form. This Agreement does not establish the obligation to provide preliminary information to the customs authorities exclusively of that member state of the Customs Union through whose state border the goods are moved. Based on the above, we believe that the provision of preliminary information to the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan is also permissible through the Internet portal of the Federal Customs Service of Russia. Our assumption is confirmed by the analysis of Art. 9 of the Agreement, which created a regulatory framework for the exchange of preliminary information between the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union in electronic form. Preliminary information must be sent to the customs authority of a member state of the Customs Union by the interested party at least 2 hours before moving goods and vehicles across the customs border of the Customs Union. If the actual import of goods and vehicles does not occur within the storage period of the preliminary information, then this preliminary information is canceled (Article 7 of the Agreement). The current legislation of the Customs Union does not provide for the mandatory submission by participants of foreign economic activity to customs authorities of preliminary information about the goods being transported. In our opinion, this is due to the currently emerging and not fully developed system of electronic submission of information to customs authorities. At the same time, Order of the Customs Committee of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 N 3 (Order of the Customs Committee of the Union State dated May 13, 2010 N 3 “On the implementation of resolutions of the Board of the Customs Committee of the Union State”) announced a number of resolutions of the Customs Committee of the Union State . The content of the Resolution of the Customs Committee of the Union State, given in Appendix No. 11 to the above-mentioned Order, is of interest.

Thus, in accordance with this Resolution, in order to create equal conditions for crossing the external border of the Union State, the board of the Customs Committee of the Union State decided to introduce mandatory preliminary notification of the import of goods into the territory of the Union State from July 1, 2012. The question arises about the validity of the adoption of this Resolution and its applicability in the conditions of the formation of the Customs Union, which introduces additional dissonance into the difficult process of forming a single customs territory of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

The procedure for mandatory PI for goods imported into the territory of the Customs Union by road

This procedure was established by the CCC Decision No. 889 dated December 9, 2011 and came into effect on June 17, 2012. According to this document, authorized economic operators, carriers, including customs carriers, customs representatives (hereinafter referred to as Interested Parties) are required to submit preliminary information to the customs authorities regarding goods imported by road no later than 2 hours before their importation to the customs territory of the Customs Union.

Methods for submitting PI to customs authorities:

website of the customs authorities of the Russian Federation customs.ru, in particular, the portal for electronic submission of information - edata.customs.ru. This portal provides the opportunity for participants in foreign trade activities to submit in electronic form preliminary information about imported goods and vehicles before crossing the customs border of the Customs Union on the basis of web technologies using the international association of Internet networks;
portal of the customs authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan - pi.customs.kz;
in the Republic of Belarus, to submit information to the PI system, you need to use it, having previously concluded an agreement with this enterprise;
You can also use specialized software to transmit PI information. For example, the software product “Alta-GTD PRO” developed - in addition to the tool for filing a declaration of goods, it contains the function of generating a PI document and sending it to the FCS database server and to the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus for its subsequent use in accordance with technological regulations.

The PI scheme for importing goods by road is as follows:

Fig. No. 1. Scheme of the preliminary information process for goods imported by road

The transport company or the sender of the goods provides the Interested Person with information about the vehicle on which the goods will be delivered.

The interested person, having received information about the vehicle, fills out the PI document (TIR or transit declaration) and, through the FCS electronic submission portal, sends it to the FCS TsITTU server. Information must be submitted no later than 2 hours before their import into the customs territory of the Customs Union. The list of information transmitted as part of the PI document is defined in the CCC Decision No. 899 and depends on the type of customs procedure.

The server receives and processes the submitted information, and also carries out format-logical control (FLC) of the submitted information. In case of successful completion of the FLC, the interested person is given a unique identifier of preliminary information, which will need to be presented at the border checkpoint. The unique identifier of the PI submitted for the purposes of registration of arrival and opening of transit in accordance with national legislation is usually generated digitally and in the form of a barcode.

The customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union, on whose territory the place of arrival of goods and vehicles is located, are required to analyze it using the risk management system (RMS) within 2 hours from the receipt of the PI.

The interested party, having received this identification number, prints out and transfers the PI document to the driver of the vehicle or reports the identification number to the dispatcher of the transport company, which prepares shipping documents. In the absence of preliminary information, the CCC Decision (clause 6) provides for interested parties the opportunity to submit the necessary information to the information system of the customs authorities within the next 2 hours. For these purposes, the Russian APP is equipped with workplaces where you can obtain a unique PI identification number about goods via the Internet and the portal of the Federal Customs Service of Russia and print it out.

Upon arrival of goods and vehicles into the customs territory of the Russian Federation, a document with a printed barcode is presented to the official of the customs authority located at the border checkpoint for the purpose of subsequent request for this PI number from the CITTU FCS database. In case of transportation of goods under the TIR procedure, the TIR Carnet number is used as a unique identifier.

By reading a barcode with a scanner in the standard customs clearance and customs control system, the official automatically generates a request to the database.

The CITTU FCS server automatically provides the information requested by the customs post. The preliminary information received in response to a request for a unique identifier is loaded into the standard software of the customs post at the checkpoint.

Next, the customs inspector carries out customs clearance and customs control in accordance with the established procedure, including comparing the preliminary information with the information contained in transport (transportation), commercial and (or) other documents. In the event of a discrepancy between the information contained in the preliminary information databases of the customs authorities of the CU member states and the information in the documents submitted by the carrier, the identified discrepancies are taken into account when deciding on the application of customs control forms in relation to the presented goods using the RMS.

A decision on the release of these goods in accordance with the customs procedure of customs transit is made no later than 2 hours from the moment of registration of the transit declaration, provided that there is no risk of non-compliance with the norms of the Customs Union legislation.

Advance Information Levels

As is rightly noted in the legal literature, by submitting documents and checking them by customs authorities in advance (before crossing the border), time is gained, which results in a reduction in costs for a private entity by reducing the time the goods spend in the customs control zone. For example, in 2010, the time required to complete customs procedures at checkpoints decreased to an average of 19 minutes, which was achieved, among other things, thanks to prior information.

The concept of the preliminary information system for the customs authorities of the Russian Federation provided for the division of preliminary information into 5 levels depending on the customs stability coefficient of the source of information : - preliminary information of persons who have a low customs stability coefficient or for whom it is impossible to establish a customs stability coefficient; — preliminary information of persons having an average customs stability coefficient; — preliminary information from persons with a high coefficient of customs stability, as well as information from the administration of the checkpoint; — preliminary information of persons in respect of whom the customs service of the country of export or transit confirmed compliance with the requirements of national customs legislation and certified the reputation of bona fide participants in foreign economic activity before the Federal Customs Service of Russia; - information from the customs service of the country of export or transit on goods transported by certain persons, in respect of which this customs service and the Federal Customs Service of Russia jointly confirmed compliance with national customs legislation and certified the reputation of bona fide participants in foreign economic activity (in all other cases, preliminary information from the customs service of the country of export or transit considered as third level information).

Red, yellow, green

The specified level system was supposed to be used to divide goods flows into channels, which, in turn, determine the number of customs operations performed and the scope of customs control: - priority clearance (green channel) - when submitting preliminary information of the fourth and fifth levels; - accelerated processing (yellow channel) - when submitting preliminary information of the first, second and third levels; — standard design (red channel) — in the absence of preliminary information. This three-channel system was not implemented. Moreover, the current Instruction on the specifics of customs officials performing customs operations in relation to goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the Russian Federation using preliminary information (Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated October 3, 2008 N 1230 (as amended by Orders of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated December 29 .2008 N 1684, dated 14.01.2010 N 23) “On approval of the Instruction on the specifics of customs officials performing certain customs operations in relation to goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the Russian Federation, using preliminary information”), does not provide for a level gradation of preliminary information depending on the source (participant in foreign economic activity or the customs service of the country of export or transit).

The above Instructions are subject to application if the central database of the unified automated information system of customs authorities contains preliminary information about imported goods and the ability to compare such information with the transported consignment of goods. In essence, a participant in foreign economic activity does not bear any adverse consequences for failure to provide preliminary information about the goods being transported to the customs authorities of the Russian Federation, with the exception of an increase in the time of customs operations upon arrival of goods. Unfortunately, we have to admit that the time it takes to clear customs operations upon arrival of goods depends much more on the capacity of automobile checkpoints than on the presence or absence of preliminary information from the customs authorities. In addition, the provisions of Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated October 3, 2008 N 1230 do not impose on customs officials the obligation to carry out customs clearance of goods and vehicles using preliminary information, even if such information is available. It is also curious that the current legislation, in particular the Instruction on the performance of customs operations during domestic and international transit of goods, approved by Order of the State Customs Committee of Russia dated 09/08/2003 N 973 (Order of the State Customs Committee of Russia dated 09/08/2003 N 973 (as amended by Orders of the Federal Customs Service Russia dated 11.08.2006 N 762, dated 18.08.2009 N 1506, dated 10.09.2009 N 1641) “On approval of the Instructions on carrying out customs operations during domestic and international customs transit of goods”), the right of the person receiving permission for the customs transit of goods is secured , in advance of the actual importation of goods into the customs territory of the Russian Federation, submit to the customs authority of departure, and the customs authority of departure is obliged to accept the transit declaration and other documents provided for by the Instructions. In this case, the issuance of a permit for domestic or international transit of goods is carried out after the actual presentation of the goods to the customs office of departure.

The content of the concept of a preliminary transit declaration differs from the essence of the concept of preliminary information. The transit declaration must meet the requirements of Art. 182 TK TS. Preliminary information can be considered sufficient in accordance with clause 8 of the Instructions when it is presented in electronic form and contains such indicators as the number of packages, labeling of goods, type of packaging of goods, name of goods, name of the sender (not provided in the case of presentation of information about goods from the Commission of the European Communities), name and location of the recipient, etc. The purpose of customs declaration by submitting a transit declaration (preliminary transit declaration) is to provide the customs authority with all the necessary information to open the customs transit procedure. Preliminary information is aimed at optimizing customs operations upon arrival of goods into the customs territory of the Customs Union, but prior to the customs procedure of customs transit. Optimization of customs operations with preliminary information consists in the advance application of a risk management system and the selection of necessary and sufficient forms of customs control of goods arriving at the customs territory.

Why do you need preliminary information?

The use of “paper” technologies when registering goods and vehicles at border checkpoints leads to long periods of downtime for vehicles, trains, ships and aircraft when they cross the customs border of the Customs Union (CU). This is due to the fact that customs officials have to make decisions about the release of goods and analyze a large amount of information from paper documents. Along with paperwork, customs authorities need to enter all information about goods and vehicles into their information systems for automated accounting and control of the movement of goods across the border. In the absence of information about goods and vehicles in electronic form, the process of entering information from paper documents into information systems takes quite a long time.

The capacity of checkpoints can be significantly increased provided that information interaction between foreign trade participants moving goods across the customs border and customs authorities located at checkpoints is organized. All necessary information can be provided by participants in foreign trade activities to customs authorities in electronic form, in approved formats, and before the vehicle arrives at the checkpoint. Such preliminary information is loaded into the information systems of the customs authority and analyzed automatically, which significantly reduces the time for documenting goods and vehicles at checkpoints.

Information technologies used in the customs authorities of the Federal Customs Service of Russia make it possible to transmit preliminary information about goods transported by all modes of transport. Legislative acts establish that preliminary information must be provided to customs authorities before the actual arrival of the vehicle at the checkpoint: for road transport and railway transport at least two hours in advance, for aircraft 4 hours in advance, and for water vessels in 24 hours.

By decision of the Customs Union of the Customs Union of December 9, 2011 No. 899, the provision of preliminary information when importing goods into the customs territory of the Customs Union by road transport is mandatory from June 17, 2012. This is due to the fact that at automobile checkpoints, preliminary information technologies were introduced earlier than at all other checkpoints, and over several years of operation, all software, electronic document formats and message transfer protocols were finalized and debugged. Software tools of customs authorities for registration of aircraft and water vessels began to be implemented in March 2012 and, currently, the process of debugging information technologies and software is underway. There is no doubt that after a certain period of time, preliminary notification at all checkpoints will be mandatory.

Who submits preliminary information

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 42 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union (TC CU), preliminary information can be provided by authorized economic operators, carriers, customs representatives and other interested parties. The composition of the preliminary information varies somewhat depending on the type of transport, but in general, the preliminary information should contain the following information:

on international transport vehicles transporting goods;
about goods transported across the customs border;
on the time and place of arrival of goods into the customs territory of the Customs Union or departure from such territory;
about passengers arriving at the customs territory of the Customs Union or departing from such territory;
on the number and composition of crew members;
about the supplies that are on the vehicle.

For each type of transport, separate formats of electronic documents are provided, which are described in the album.

Procedure for submitting preliminary information. Description of the procedure and the difference between Air and Sea

Customs technologies used today offer participants in foreign economic activity two ways to provide preliminary information about goods when they are moved at checkpoints.

Submission of preliminary information through the Electronic Submission Portal of the Federal Customs Service of Russia

The portal is located on the Internet on the server of the Federal Customs Service of Russia (https://edata.customs.ru) and anyone who has a computer with Internet access can connect to it. It is easy to register on the Portal by entering your login and password, your Email and checking the box, legal entity or individual entrepreneur. To work with the FCS Portal, no special software is required, only an Internet browser is used, and services for transmitting preliminary information and obtaining a customs identification number (barcode) are free.

But, despite the ease of use, this method has its drawbacks: manually entering a large amount of information, the inability to download electronic data from other programs and information systems, the lack of a database for all shipments, the inability to generate statistical and reference materials on issued product consignments. In addition, the technology of preliminary information for aircraft and water vessels provides for the delivery of a package of electronic documents (preliminary information) to the customs post located at the checkpoint. The FCS portal does not support such technology; the sent preliminary information will be located on the Portal until a customs official receives a document with a bar code and requests this preliminary information in his information system.

Therefore, the Portal of the Federal Customs Service of Russia is used mainly for preliminary information to customs authorities when moving a small number of consignments by road. For railway transport, aircraft and water vessels, it is almost impossible to transmit preliminary information through the Portal of the Federal Customs Service of Russia. This is due to the fact that a large number of transported consignments are being transported, for which none of the participants in the process of moving goods has the entire set of information, and also due to the shortcomings of the Portal, which are listed above.

Submission of preliminary information through an information operator

An information operator (IO) is an organization that has special equipment, provides the necessary information security measures and has a connection to the information systems of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, intended for participants in foreign trade activities to submit information in electronic form to customs authorities (regulated by Order of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated January 24, 2008 N 52). Through the IO, you can not only send preliminary information, but also carry out electronic declaration of goods.

To transmit preliminary information through the information center, it is necessary to have special software that allows you to generate electronic documents in the required forms and support message protocols approved by the Federal Customs Service of Russia. As a rule, IOs provide their users with the necessary software or access to special information systems. The transfer of preliminary information is carried out on a contractual basis and is a paid service, but the cost of these services is small.

The most well-known information system that allows you to generate sets of shipping and customs documents for all types of transport, send preliminary information to customs authorities and carry out electronic declarations is the Fill-Bill system, designed for collective work with electronic documents and having connections to several information operators. The system was developed by , which has been successfully developing software and information systems for customs clearance and rail transportation for more than 15 years.

The Fill-Bill system provides an integrated approach to the preparation of documents: downloading electronic information about goods from customer information systems or downloading electronic information in various formats, automated generation of shipping, commercial and customs documents, sending preliminary information on all types of transport to any checkpoint, electronic declaration of goods, generation of reports and statistics, use of the VED-Info reference system.

There are other commercial software products that allow you to prepare preliminary information, but they, at the same cost of services, provide, as a rule, only manual entry of information on goods transported by road and delivery of preliminary information through the information office to the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

Use of advance information at road and railway checkpoints

For road and rail transportation, the carrier or an authorized person, upon arrival of the vehicle at the checkpoint, presents to the customs authority a document on which a barcode is printed (identification number of preliminary information received from the information system of the Federal Customs Service of Russia). Officials at the customs post at the checkpoint use this number to request preliminary information and compare it with the information contained in the shipping documents (waybills, packing lists, invoices and other documents). If all the data is identical and no risks are identified, then a decision is made to release the goods. In case of discrepancies in the information, the identified discrepancies are taken into account when making a decision on the application of customs control forms in relation to the goods presented, and appropriate corrections are made to the information loaded into the information systems.

When preliminary information is provided in the amount established for placing imported goods under the customs procedure of customs transit, in the absence of discrepancies between the preliminary information and the information contained in the documents, the information received is used as a transit declaration to formalize the transit procedure.

Use of advance information at aviation and sea checkpoints

Since 2012, the customs authorities of the Federal Customs Service of Russia have been introducing information systems that allow them to receive and process preliminary information at sea and aviation checkpoints. The difficulty in organizing the collection of information about ships, transported consignments, crew members, passengers and supplies lies in the fact that none of the participants in the process of transporting goods and passengers has the entire set of information to provide preliminary information to the customs authorities. It is necessary to organize the joint work of all participants in foreign trade activities to prepare the necessary package of electronic documents that make up the preliminary information information.

To test the technology of preliminary information in the Far East in seaports (Nakhodka, Vladivostok, Vanino and others), since 2011 an experiment has been carried out on information interaction between carriers, ship agents, representatives of ports and customs authorities. Collaboration on the formation of a package of documents, based on information available to different participants in the process of transporting goods, is ensured by the Fill-Bill information system. Representatives of the recipients of goods and other interested parties can prepare documents in advance (several days in advance) that provide detailed information about the transported consignments of goods. Carriers and line agents, based on the information they have, a day before the ship’s arrival, create a declaration for goods, which contains lists of all bills of lading. In the Fill-Bill information system, all this information is integrated and a package of electronic documents intended for preliminary information is sent to the customs authority.

An experiment to generate preliminary information on aircraft is being carried out at Sheremetyevo Airport with the participation of Aeroflot and customs posts of Sheremetyevo Customs. Using the information system developed on the basis of Fill-Bill, packages of electronic documents in the formats of the Federal Customs Service of Russia were transferred to the customs post, which are required to be provided for preliminary informing the customs authorities about the arrival of goods transported by aircraft.

EU experience

The experience of introducing mandatory preliminary notification when importing goods into the territory of the European Union seems important for the study. In accordance with European Parliament and Council Regulation No. 48/2005 (amendments to the European Union Customs Code) and Commission Regulation No. 1875/2006 (amendments to the provisions for the implementation of the European Union Customs Code), all goods intended to be imported into the territory of the European Union are subject to risk analysis for their safety even before the cargo is imported into the territory of the European Union. To do this, certain data must be submitted to the customs authorities of the country where the cargo is planned to be imported - the so-called declaration of imported cargo (preliminary information). In the case of cargo transportation by road, such a declaration must be submitted at least 1 hour before its entry into the territory of the European Union. In the case of rail transportation - 2 hours, for air transportation - even before the actual departure of the plane (for long flights - at least 4 hours before the arrival of the plane). This data can only be submitted electronically using the Import Control System (or Transit Control System). From January 1, 2011, only those goods for which the corresponding declaration will be submitted in a timely manner are allowed into the territory of the European Union for customs formalities (Letter of the State Revenue Service of Latvia dated 26.04.2010 N 27.9.1/20568 “On the submission of electronic data on imported goods for risk analysis").

Eurasian Economic Commission

AGREEMENT on the presentation and exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles transported across the customs border of the Customs Union

The governments of the member states of the customs union within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community, hereinafter referred to as the Parties,

guided by the Agreement on the Customs Code of the Customs Union dated November 27, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement),

Having regard to the Framework of Standards for Secure and Facilitating Global Trade of the World Customs Organization;

seeking to establish effective interaction and coordination of the activities of the customs authorities of the states of the Parties in ensuring customs control over goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the customs union,

recognizing the need to provide and exchange preliminary information about goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the Customs Union, in order to minimize the risks of violations of the customs legislation of the Customs Union and the legislation of the member states of the Customs Union, as well as to improve and speed up customs operations, increase the efficiency of customs control ,

have agreed as follows:

The following terms are used in this Agreement:

the central customs authority of a member state of the customs union is the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the Customs Control Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.

technical conditions - a document that defines the structure and format of electronic messages exchanged by customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union using information systems, exchange regulations, exchange methods, requirements for software and hardware of information systems, as well as for a unique transportation identification number.

technical requirements - a document defining the procedure, formats, method and regulations for electronic data exchange between the automated system of customs authorities and information systems of interested parties providing preliminary information about goods and vehicles planned for import into the customs territory of the customs union;

unique transportation identification number (hereinafter referred to as UINP) is a unique preliminary information number that is assigned by the customs authority of a member state of the customs union for each consignment of goods using the information system.

Authorized economic operators, carriers, including customs carriers, customs representatives and other interested parties (hereinafter referred to as interested parties), may submit to the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union in electronic form preliminary information on goods intended to be moved across the customs border, transport means transporting such goods, the time and place of arrival of goods into the customs territory of the Customs Union or departure from such a territory, passengers arriving at the customs territory of the Customs Union or departing from such a territory (hereinafter referred to as preliminary information).

Article 3

The obligation to submit preliminary information is determined by a decision of the Customs Union Commission, depending on the type of transport on which goods are transported (hereinafter referred to as the decision of the Commission).

The Commission's decision must contain:

date of introduction of mandatory provision of preliminary information;

the type of transport on which goods are transported across the customs border of the customs union, in respect of which mandatory provision of preliminary information is introduced;

composition of mandatory preliminary information;

the procedure for actions of customs officials in the absence of mandatory preliminary information at the places of movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border of the customs union;

other information necessary to implement the Commission’s decision.

Submission of preliminary information is not required in relation to:

goods and vehicles transported by individuals for personal use;

goods sent by international mail;

goods and vehicles transported by certain categories of foreign persons in accordance with Chapter 45 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union;

goods and vehicles moved to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters, accidents and catastrophes;

military cargo.

The Customs Union Commission and the central customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union ensure the publication of the Commission’s decision and its communication to all interested parties, including using information technology, within thirty days after signing such a decision, but no later than one hundred and eighty days before the date of implementation mandatory provision of preliminary information.

Article 4

Preliminary information is presented in the language of a member state of the customs union, with the exception of symbols used by customs authorities as classifiers.

Article 5

Interested parties provide preliminary information regarding imported goods intended to be placed under the customs transit procedure at the points of arrival, in the amount of information specified in Article 182 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union or part two of Article 3 of this Agreement.

If the customs procedure of customs transit will not be applied to imported goods and vehicles, interested parties provide preliminary information in the amount of information specified in Article 159 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union.

Article 6

Submission of preliminary information is carried out electronically through the interaction of the information system of the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union and the information systems of interested parties or through the web portals of the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union.

Technical requirements for information systems of interested parties are developed and published to inform interested parties by the customs authority of a member state of the customs union.

Article 7

Preliminary information must be sent to the customs authority of a member state of the customs union by the interested party at least 2 hours before the movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border of the customs union.

If the preliminary information does not comply with the composition of the information, its structure and format approved by the technical requirements, the interested person is sent an electronic message about the non-acceptance of the preliminary information for consideration, indicating the reasons.

If there are no errors in the preliminary information provided, an electronic message containing the UINP is sent to the interested person.

In the case of transportation of several consignments on one vehicle, preliminary information must be submitted for each consignment separately. Each product batch is assigned an individual UINP.

Preliminary information is stored in the preliminary information database for at least 30 days from the date of assignment of the UINP.

If the actual import of goods and vehicles does not occur within the storage period of the preliminary information, then this preliminary information is canceled.

Article 8

To carry out customs operations, the UINP is presented by the interested party to the customs authority of a member state of the customs union at the place of movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border of the customs union.

Upon receipt of a UINP from an interested person, an official of the customs authority of a member state of the customs union must perform the following actions:

request, using the UINP, using software, preliminary information about goods and vehicles contained in the databases of customs authorities;

compare the information contained in transport (transportation) and commercial documents (hereinafter referred to as documents) submitted by the carrier with the information contained in the preliminary information;

check compliance with prohibitions and restrictions;

perform other actions established by the customs legislation of the customs union and the member state of the customs union.

In the event of a discrepancy between the information contained in the preliminary information databases of the customs authorities of the member states of the customs union and the information contained in the documents submitted by the carrier, the official of the customs authority of the member state of the customs union takes measures in accordance with the legislation of the member state of the customs union.

If there is no preliminary information on goods and vehicles in the databases of the customs authorities of the member states of the Customs Union, the submission of which is mandatory, in accordance with Article 3 of this Agreement, customs operations are carried out in accordance with the decision of the Commission.

Between the central customs authorities of the member states of the customs union, preliminary information on goods and vehicles is exchanged in electronic form.

Article 10

To implement the provisions of Article 9 of this Agreement, the customs authorities of the member states of the customs union are developing Technical conditions for organizing the exchange of preliminary information on goods and vehicles moved across the customs border of the customs union, which are approved by the heads of the central customs authorities of the member states of the customs union.

The information received in accordance with this Agreement is confidential and must be used exclusively for customs purposes.

Correspondence regarding the implementation of the provisions of this Agreement is conducted in Russian.

Article 13

This Agreement does not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under other international treaties to which the states of the Parties are parties.

Article 14

1. Disputes between the Parties related to the interpretation and (or) application of the provisions of this Agreement are resolved, first of all, through negotiations and consultations.

2. If the dispute is not resolved by the parties to the dispute through negotiations and consultations within six months from the date of an official written request for their holding, sent by one of the parties to the dispute to the other party to the dispute, then, in the absence of another agreement between the parties to the dispute regarding the method of its resolution, any of the parties to the dispute may refer this dispute for consideration to the Court of the Eurasian Economic Community.

3. The Customs Union Commission assists the Parties in resolving the dispute before it is referred for consideration to the Court of the Eurasian Economic Community.

Article 15

This Agreement may be amended, which are documented in separate protocols that are integral parts of this Agreement.

Article 16

This Agreement is subject to ratification and provisionally applied from the date of entry into force of the Agreement on the Customs Code of the Customs Union dated November 27, 2009.

This Agreement comes into force from the date of receipt by the depositary of the last written notification through diplomatic channels about the implementation by the States of the Parties of the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement.

Done in the city of St. Petersburg on May 21, 2010 in one original copy in Russian.

An original copy of this Agreement shall be kept by the Customs Union Commission, which will send each Party a certified copy thereof.

For the Government of the Republic of Belarus

For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan

For the Government of the Russian Federation