From April 1, a restriction on duty-free imports of goods from other countries that are not part of this association will come into force in Russia and the EAEU countries. The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) did not extend the duty-free threshold for importing goods from foreign online stores and goods for personal use (which are imported by all modes of transport, except air, or on foot). Since the spring of 2022, it has been 1,000 euros, and has been constantly extended, but now there is no such decision on another extension. This means that the duty-free import threshold from April 1 automatically falls to 200 euros, the amount that was previously for Russians.
This applies to marketplaces where thousands of Russians resell and buy products and goods: from Wildberries to Yandex Market. Some traders will leave online stores, some will raise prices. It will also become more expensive to buy equipment: online retail market participants surveyed by Hi-Tech Mail.ru expect that this decision will raise prices by 10–15%. They will increase for household appliances, hair dryers, PC accessories, Apple equipment and Samsung products — everything that is not produced in Russia or China, but is imported through gray channels.
Initially, the duty-free import threshold was increased so that in the context of sanctions and restrictions, the population would not suffer from a shortage of goods: from dishes and household items to medicines, clothing, equipment and gadgets. However, now that Russia has set a course for technological sovereignty and the development of its own industries, the threshold may be lowered so that Russians switch to domestic analogues of goods. Also, with the reduction of the threshold, the EAEU countries will have an incentive to create supply chains within the association and to develop Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Armenian industries.
Vedomosti, in particular, speaks of a possible interest in non-prolongation of duty-free import of goods on the part of the association, referring to the Eurasian Union of Consumers. According to the publication, this organization appealed to the EEC with a request to maintain the current threshold of 1,000 euros. But there "replied that no EAEU member country had made such a proposal".
However, the EEC recently removed one similar sensitive and discussed restriction just a few days before it came into force. From April 1, new customs clearance rules for cars purchased in other EAEU countries were to come into force in Russia. Industry experts predicted that after the new rules came into force, cars imported from the EAEU to Russia would cost significantly more than they did before. At the last moment, the EEC this week postponed the introduction of new rules for a year — until April 1, 2025 — so that businesses and car owners would not suffer and would have time to prepare. But after this period, buyers of cars from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and other EAEU countries will have to pay customs duties, VAT and excise tax.
At the same time, the fight against smuggling across the borders with the EAEU countries and other states is also being tightened in Russia from April 1. The Federal Customs Service warns about this.
From April 1, the penalty for illegal movement across the customs border of the EAEU and the state border of the Russian Federation with the EAEU member states of alcoholic or tobacco products worth more than 100 thousand rubles will be tightened. Both types of products are recognized as strategically important goods and resources for Russia.
Therefore, criminal liability will now be incurred for smuggling such products under Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [«Smuggling of potent, poisonous, toxic, explosive, radioactive substances, radiation sources, nuclear materials, firearms or their main parts, explosive devices, ammunition, other weapons, other military equipment, as well as raw materials, materials, equipment, technologies, scientific and technical information or results of intellectual activity that can be used in the creation of weapons or military equipment, as well as strategically important goods and resources or cultural property or especially valuable wild animals, aquatic biological resources, plants and fungi», — editor's note.]. This article provides for a more severe punishment in the form of imprisonment, and more significant fines for smugglers than the previous article for them 200.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [«Smuggling of alcoholic products and (or) tobacco products», — editor's note.], which becomes invalid.
In addition, from this day on, customs officers receive the authority to fully investigate through referrals to the courts "criminal cases of smuggling of strategically important goods and resources, cultural property, especially valuable wild animals, aquatic biological resources, plants, as well as fungi belonging to species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and (or) protected by international treaties of the Russian Federation, their parts and derivatives".
