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On Tuesday the Verkhovna Rada adopted two draft laws \u2013 \u21164278 and 4279, concerning international postal and express shipments.<\/p>\n
Thus, the documents provide for an increase in the VAT base for international postal and express shipments for individuals from 100 euros to 150 euros, an expansion of the list of goods prohibited in international postal and express shipments (e.g., alcoholic beverages, tobacco, weapons, supplies) from certain countries, etc.). They also provide for the use of information & telecommunication systems of customs authorities to analyze information, which will improve countering the illegal import and circulation of these goods, and help prevent the import into the customs territory of Ukraine of counterfeit, prohibited, or restricted goods (by sorting samples of goods, senders by names, as well as exchanging information derived from different senders), etc.<\/p>\n
Due to quarantine restrictions worldwide, e-commerce is the fastest growing industry in the world economy. At the same time, a lot of manipulations have appeared with time, for example, at the customs control – invoices are substituted or incorrect names of goods are indicated, etc. As a result, many countries are reviewing the conditions for forwarding international shipments to introduce additional controls.<\/p>\n
In Ukraine, international postal and express shipments, customs control, and customs clearance were carried out almost “manually” in paper form, which makes it impossible to keep objective records of the movement of goods, the use of information customs resources and customs control with the help of risk management system.<\/p>\n
The changes proposed by the draft laws will speed up customs formalities for goods moving in international postal and express shipments, increase the efficiency of customs control through the preliminary analysis of electronic information, improve risk management processes currently associated with insufficient information on such goods, detection of abuses for illegal trade (fragmentation of parties, underestimation of the value of goods, etc.).<\/p>\n
The introduction of e-registers for international postal and express shipments that will be submitted by postal operators and express carriers for the declaration of goods they ship (this is also provided by the adopted draft laws) will comprehensively solve the problem of effective customs administration and application of a risk analysis system.<\/p>\n
It should be noted that the Laws enter into force on the day following their publication, and the Register should be operational 6 months after the entry into force of the Law.<\/p>\n
The European Business Association expects the publication of documents shortly so as not to delay the change process.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the business sincerely hopes for transparency, honesty, and efficiency of the customs authorities to launch a high-quality mechanism of international and express shipments.<\/p>\n
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