Customs Administration in Russia: State-of-the-Art Procedures to Be Followed

The Federal Customs Service of Russia declares the improvement in the quality of customs administration and reduction of the administrative burden on business through automation of registration and release of customs declarations filed by low-risk foreign trade operators (80% by 2020), enhancing foreign trade operator categorization by risk level. However, the main improvements in customs administration, enshrined in the government plans, retain the basic technologies and business processes unchanged, and thus preserve the main problems. As a result, Russia lags behind developed and some developing countries in international customs ratings. The article considers the most urgent problems in the customs sphere and presents proposals for their solution. We examine the problems of international transit related to the harmonization of customs documents and financial guarantees with countries involved in transit operations. The use of primary documents by economic operators, including the use of foreign electronic data, has been considered for electronic document circulation. With regard to non-tariff measures, the possibility of transferring control over compliance with technical regulation measures to domestic circulation is addressed. Another important issue is the possibility of introducing general financial guarantees in amounts adequate to non-payment risks. Big data involvement (producers, persons involved in the supply chain, goods turnover in the territory etc.) for risk management system development in the customs sphere is discussed. Conditions for the creation of consignment warehouses in Russia, for Internet shops in particular, are regarded as one of the important directions of foreign trade infrastructure development. 

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