Georgiy Vlastopulo, Managing Director, Optimal Logistics, on particularities of customs procedures for goods from China
Judging from our experience, we can conclude that the customs bodies are much more attentive to the reliability of information provided for goods imported from China than to imports from other countries.
In the past, the share of Chinese goods in the total amount of the so called ‘grey’ import was quite significant, so the customs were often suspicious about them. The Risk Management System operated by the RF Federal Customs Service defines lower customs values for goods originating from China. This is why in case of ‘grey’ import from Europe, the goods are often declared as coming from China, as this allows of reducing their customs value, and, consequently, the customs dues to be paid.
Chinese goods are as a rule cheap, which leaves room for doubts, often not without reasons, that the customs value declared is valid. Often the materials of which the goods in question were produced cost more than the goods.
Chinese shippers are not exactly disciplined in terms of stating the actual physical characteristics of the cargo, such as gross weight and net weight, as well as it quantity. One ton more, or, one ton less is quite a usual practice. But the controlled customs value index depends on the weight of the cargo, while the same goods shipped under the same contract can have different customs value. This leads to additional control measures and customs inspection of the cargo.
China is the major exporter of consumer goods, but Chinese manufacturers are often little known and have no export licenses. As a result, it is impossible either to verify the information in export document or to get information from open sources.
All these factors trigger the customs risk management system and lead to stricter customs control including physical inspections, customs taking samples of goods, correcting the customs value, demanding additional documents, etc.