Russia - Import Requirements and DocumentationRussia – Import Requirements
Importers are required to complete a Russian Customs freight declaration for every item imported. A declaration must be supported by the following documents (when applicable): contracts, commercial documents such as commercial invoices and packing lists, transport documents, import licenses, “TR TS” (technical regulation of technical safety) certificates, certificates of origin, sanitary certificates, import permission and licenses (e.g. for products containing encryption technology), and documents confirming the legitimacy of declarants/brokers/importers. All Customs import declarations are submitted electronically. The website of Russia’s Federal Customs Service contains the link to the portal for electronic declarations.
As a result of regulatory changes in 2014, Russian Customs authorities should no longer require a separate submission of certificates or declarations of technical compliance as part of the clearance process, as the inclusion of such information within field 31 of the electronic import customs declaration should be sufficient. However, it has been reported that Customs officials may require separate submission of these documents in practice, especially for controlled items.
The EAEU maintains a unified list of goods for which import and export limitations and prohibitions apply in order to monitor and control movement of goods classified as sensitive by the member states or by the international community. In Russia, import licenses are issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with the unified licensing rules of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Customs payments generally include import/export customs duties, taxes, and customs processing fees. Some goods may also require payment of utilization fees (e.g. wheeled vehicles), or the new ecological fee, introduced on January 1, 2015 for the following groups of goods and packaging subject to recycling:
| Textile articles (other than apparel) | Plastic building products |
| Carpets and rugs | Other articles of plastic |
| Protective overalls | Shaped and treated sheet glass |
| Other outer garments | Hollow glass |
| Underclothes | Barrels and similar containers of ferrous metals |
| Other clothing and accessories | Light metal packaging |
| Knitted and crocheted garments | Computers and peripherals |
| Wooden building materials and millwork | Communication equipment |
| Wooden packaging | Consumer electronics |
| Corrugated paper and paperboard and paper and paperboard packaging | Optical instruments and photographic equipment |
| Household and sanitary products and toiletries | Accumulators |
| Paper stationery | Storage batteries |
| Other articles of paper and paperboard | Electric lighting equipment |
| Oil products | Electric domestic appliances |
| Rubber tires, casings and inner tubes; retreading of rubber tires | Non-electric domestic appliances |
| Other articles of rubber | Power-operated hand tools |
| Plastic packaging articles | Industrial refrigeration and ventilation equipment |
| Other general-use machinery and equipment not included elsewhere |
Rates of the ecological fee may be revised annually.
In addition, currency control regulations require the issuance of a transaction passport for both exports and imports to ensure that hard currency earnings are repatriated to Russia.
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.