What Customs covers
Customs is where the cost of importing into Russia is actually decided — and it is decided before the goods move. We classify goods correctly, build a customs value that survives challenge, handle EAEU conformity, and keep the position aligned with your transfer pricing. We are not a customs broker; we are the people who make sure the broker is filing the right numbers.
Importers arrive worried about the 22% and leave having lost money on the 5%. Import VAT is charged at 22% on the customs value plus duty — a large, frightening number, and for a VAT-registered company almost entirely recoverable. Import duty is a much smaller number, usually 5–15%, and you never get it back. It is set by a ten-digit classification code that somebody assigns, often quickly, sometimes wrongly, and then repeats on every shipment for years. That is where the money is, and it is decided before the goods move.
Russia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, so imports are charged under the EAEU common external tariff — the same schedule as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The mechanics are straightforward; the consequences of getting them wrong are not.
Every product carries a ten-digit TN VED code under the EAEU nomenclature, and that code determines the duty rate, the conformity requirements and the scrutiny you attract. Misclassification is the most common and most expensive customs error, and it compounds: the wrong code applied to one shipment is a mistake, applied to three years of shipments it is a reassessment with penalties and interest. We review classification before the first shipment moves and document the reasoning, so the position can be defended rather than re-argued from memory two years later.
This is the issue that most foreign groups underestimate, and it is the reason a customs broker alone is not enough. If your Russian entity buys from its own parent or an affiliate, you are not setting a price in a market — you are setting it inside a group, and two Russian authorities look at that price with opposite interests.
Most customs brokers cannot help here: it is not what they do. Most tax advisers do not touch customs value. We run both practices, so we build the customs valuation policy and the transfer pricing position together, from the same numbers. If you take one thing from this page, take this one.
Companies plan for customs and are surprised by certification. Many product categories require conformity assessment against EAEU technical regulations before goods can clear, and for a company bringing a new category into Russia this is routinely the longest item on the timeline — longer than the clearance itself.
Parallel import — genuine branded goods brought in without the brand owner's consent — has been legal in Russia since March 2022 under Resolution No. 506, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade maintains the list of permitted categories and brands. For an importer, nothing changes: the same duties, the same 22% VAT, the same conformity requirements, no surcharge. For a foreign brand owner watching its own products arrive through a channel it did not authorise, the questions are different — pricing control, warranty exposure under Russian consumer law, and export control obligations in your home jurisdiction that do not disappear because the diversion happened through a third country. We advise on both sides of that, and they are genuinely different conversations.
Worth being direct, because it shapes what we are useful for. A licensed customs broker files the declaration, holds the electronic credentials for the Federal Customs Service, and is jointly liable for what is filed — typically for ₽8,000–25,000 per declaration. That is good value and you should use one. What a broker does not do is defend a classification under challenge, build a valuation policy that holds for related-party imports, align it with your transfer pricing, or argue a customs audit. That is the work we do, alongside your broker and your logistics provider rather than instead of them.
We take the whole chain as one engagement: classification before the goods move, a customs value built to be defended, conformity mapped against your product categories, clearance coordinated with your broker, import VAT recovered in the right period and reconciled against currency-control paperwork on the payment to the supplier. Because duty and import VAT run straight into landed cost, we keep the customs, tax and accounting workstreams talking to each other. Our advisers trained at the Big Four and work in English, Russian, Chinese and Turkish — which matters when the supplier, the broker and the head office are in three different countries.
What we handle
Classification review & defence
TN VED classification confirmed before the first shipment, with the reasoning documented so the position can be defended rather than re-argued under reassessment.
Details +
Classification review & defence
TN VED classification confirmed before the first shipment, with the reasoning documented so the position can be defended rather than re-argued under reassessment.
EAEU conformity certification
TR EAEU conformity mapped against your product categories — declaration or certificate, what evidence is accepted, and what changes when the simplified procedure ends.
Details +
EAEU conformity certification
TR EAEU conformity mapped against your product categories — declaration or certificate, what evidence is accepted, and what changes when the simplified procedure ends.
Declarations & clearance
Declaration preparation and clearance run with your broker and logistics provider, with the numbers checked before they are filed rather than after they are challenged.
Details +
Declarations & clearance
Declaration preparation and clearance run with your broker and logistics provider, with the numbers checked before they are filed rather than after they are challenged.
Import VAT recovery
Import VAT claimed in the correct period and reconciled against currency-control paperwork on the payment to the supplier. Including an honest view of what the USN regime does to it.
Details +
Import VAT recovery
Import VAT claimed in the correct period and reconciled against currency-control paperwork on the payment to the supplier. Including an honest view of what the USN regime does to it.
Customs audits & disputes
Responses to post-clearance audits, valuation queries and reclassification claims — argued on the documentation built at the outset rather than assembled under pressure.
Details +
Customs audits & disputes
Responses to post-clearance audits, valuation queries and reclassification claims — argued on the documentation built at the outset rather than assembled under pressure.
What’s included
When clients come to us
“You are about to import a new product category and nobody has confirmed the classification.”
“Your Russian entity buys from the parent, and customs has started asking about the declared value.”
“Goods are detained at the border because a conformity document is missing.”
“A post-clearance audit is challenging classification on three years of shipments.”
“Your brand is arriving in Russia through parallel import and you need to know what your options actually are.”
European manufacturer, valuation challenge on intra-group imports
The Russian subsidiary had imported from its parent for four years on a transfer price set by group finance, with nobody checking what customs would make of it. The FCS opened a valuation review; the transfer pricing file said one thing and the customs declarations implied another. We rebuilt both positions from the same numbers, defended the customs value, and brought the transfer pricing documentation into line. The reassessment closed well below the exposure the group had provided for — and the two files now say the same thing.
How the work runs
Classify & value
TN VED code confirmed and the customs value built on a documented basis — before the goods move, not after they are queried.
Conformity
Product categories mapped against TR EAEU: declaration or certificate, what evidence is accepted, how long it takes.
Clear
Declarations prepared and checked, clearance coordinated with your broker and logistics provider.
Recover & defend
Import VAT claimed in the right period; classification and valuation defended if the FCS comes back.
Import Clearance Pack
A customs broker, or us — the honest version
Questions about Customs
How is import VAT calculated in Russia?+
Import VAT is charged at 22% on the customs value plus the import duty — so classification and valuation both feed into the final amount. A VAT-registered importer generally recovers it, provided the documentation is correct and the claim is made in the right period.
What duty rate applies to my goods?+
It depends on the ten-digit TN VED classification code. Rates run from 0% to 20% of customs value, with most goods in the 5–15% band — raw materials for domestic manufacturing often 0–5%, finished consumer goods and electronics typically 5–15%. Preferential origin can take it to zero if you hold a certificate of origin.
Our Russian company buys from our parent. Is that a problem?+
It is not a problem, but it is scrutinised. The Federal Customs Service challenges declared customs value on related-party transactions where it looks low, because a low price means less duty. The Federal Tax Service challenges the same price under transfer pricing rules where it looks high, because a high price means profit leaving Russia. The two positions have to be built as one consistent, documented story — which is precisely what we do, because we run both practices.
Do we need a customs broker if we work with you?+
Yes, and you should. A licensed broker files the declaration, holds the electronic credentials for the Federal Customs Service and is jointly liable for the filing — usually ₽8,000–25,000 per declaration, which is good value. We work alongside your broker, not instead of them. What we add is the work a broker does not do: defending classification, building a valuation policy that holds for intra-group imports, aligning it with transfer pricing, and arguing customs audits.
What is the most common customs problem for foreign importers?+
Two: incorrect classification, and customs valuation disputes on related-party transactions. Both are avoidable with preparation and expensive to fix afterwards — a wrong code applied to years of shipments becomes a reassessment with penalties and interest. We recommend a pre-import classification review for any new product category, and a customs valuation policy before the first intra-group shipment.
What certification do our products need?+
It depends on the category. Many goods need conformity assessment against EAEU technical regulations — a declaration of conformity for most machinery, electrical equipment and PPE, registered via FGIS Rosakkreditatsiya, or a certificate of conformity for higher-risk categories such as children's products and medical devices. A simplified procedure accepting foreign test reports runs to 1 September 2026 for some categories. Without the document, goods are detained at the border — so this belongs at the start of your timeline, not the end.
Our brand is being parallel-imported into Russia. What can we do?+
Less than before 2022, but not nothing. Parallel import of genuine goods on the Ministry of Industry and Trade's permitted list has been legal since Resolution No. 506 in March 2022, and that is a regulatory fact rather than an enforcement problem. What remains available: checking whether your specific products are actually on the list, product differentiation, a consistent and documented service policy for unauthorised units, export control discipline on diversion through third countries, and an anti-counterfeiting programme — which is fully available and worth separating from the parallel import question entirely.
Does import VAT work differently if we are on the simplified regime?+
Yes, and it is the trap. A company on USN does not file VAT and cannot recover import VAT — it becomes a permanent cost on every shipment rather than a timing difference. Companies that chose USN for its simplicity and later started importing are often surprised by this. It is worth modelling before the regime is fixed.
Can you handle customs clearance for us?+
Yes — HS classification, declarations and clearance, coordinated with your logistics so goods move on schedule.
Do you work with Chinese importing companies specifically?+
Yes. China-Russia trade flows are a significant part of our customs practice. We have specific experience with Chinese goods classifications, China-Russia trade terms (DAP, DDP, FOB), yuan-denominated transactions and the documentation requirements for EAEU import.
Can you recover overpaid customs duties?+
Yes, where duties were overpaid due to incorrect classification or valuation. The customs authority refund process has strict deadlines — typically 3 years from the date of overpayment. We calculate the refund entitlement and manage the application.
What happens during a post-clearance customs audit?+
The Federal Customs Service has 3 years to audit past declarations. During a field audit, inspectors review contracts, invoices, payment records and correspondence. We accompany the company during the audit and prepare responses to all authority requests.