EEU Customs Code to prioritize information technologies

MINSK (BelTA) – The Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union will prioritize modern information technologies over hardcopies, BelTA learned from Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus Yuri Senko during the press conference held on 15 September to mark Customs Officer Day.

According to the source, the new Customs Code prioritizes modern information technologies over hardcopies. Submitting a customs declaration on paper will be an exception. Now the Customs Code of the Customs Union requires submitting paper declarations. The official said that information will be exchanged between customs bodies and foreign trade participants by digital means, including taking into account the one-stop filing practices introduced by the customs service.

Yuri Senko stated that the document will allow information systems of customs bodies to perform all customs operations and customs control. The novelty will enable automatic registration of customs declarations and automatic release of commodities without involving customs officers.

Apart from that, the list of documents a customs declaration requires has been greatly reduced. The digital customs declaration procedure will not require the submission of documents, which were used to fill in the customs declaration. If the declaration is to be submitted using paper, the declarant only has to produce the document that confirms his or her authority.

The time required to release commodities has been greatly reduced. Now the procedure has to be completed on the business day after the customs declaration is registered at the latest. The draft Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union specifies four hours for completing the procedure.

The head of Belarus' Customs said that the draft document focuses on post-customs control. In other words, control over commodities after they are released by customs authorities will be in focus. There are plans to improve the institution of the authorized economic operator, too.

The draft Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union also specifies other progressive norms that will greatly accelerate and facilitate customs operations with regard to commodities transported across the Eurasian Economic Union border. The Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus assured that the document will make the regulation of foreign trade and customs formalities more transparent and less cumbersome. It will reduce time and financial costs for private businesses in the course of merchandise trade. It will also greatly streamline the operation of customs bodies.

Yuri Senko stated that the Eurasian Economic Union member states have completed the internal adjustment of the draft Customs Code. The document is supposed to be adopted in 2016.