Electronic declaration of goods is a statement submitted by the declarant, using a special form, describing accurate information about goods that move across the customs border of the Russian Federation, in which the corresponding customs operation is elected. Submission of the declaration is carried out using special software, as well as the Internet.
Concept
Electronic customs declaration of goods is enshrined in law. Starting from January 1, 2014, electronic submission is required. The main provisions can be seen in the Code of the Customs Union. And also special attention should be paid to the development strategy of customs authorities until 2020. One of the provisions of the strategy is devoted to the complete transition to the way in which there should be a system of electronic declaration of goods, as well as vehicles. By 2020, the percentage of filing of such declarations should be 100%.
The big "but" ...
However, it is worth noting that it will be difficult and probably even impossible to arrive at a 100% submission of documents in electronic form. This is due primarily to the fact that there are times when the declarant is required to submit additional information about the goods.
The first thing you need to pay attention to is activity related to state secrets. Such goods, based on the choice of the declarant, may be declared in writing.
The next category of products are those that fall under special procedures. By such are meant: destruction, refusal in favor of the state, special customs procedure.
The following types of goods are postal shipments, special categories of shipments from foreign persons, for example, from diplomatic representatives of foreign states.
It is interesting that military goods are classified as a separate category of goods; they also provide for the possibility of a written declaration. The reasons for this decision by the Government of the Russian Federation are not clear. Apparently, this is done for security reasons.
Simplicity
Electronic tax returns, as a result of cargo declarations, have special advantages over the paper version. First of all, it should be noted that according to the same development strategy, the period for processing a customs declaration should be reduced to 20 hours. But the implementation of such opportunities with a written storage medium is impossible. The electronic goods declaration system solves this problem: the acceptance time has been reduced many times. The average time is only two hours.
The next is the implementation of these procedures in the declaration in automatic mode. This means that after adoption, there is no need to go to another department and wait until your document is assigned the status "Approved", and you will be allowed to perform the declared procedure.
If the topic of time is touched, then it should be noted that the number of hours that an electronic declaration takes, namely, registration and verification by an inspector, is equally important. Previously, this figure was two business days. Since the electronic form for the declaration of goods came into force, the period has decreased to 3 hours. The maneuverability and speed of data processing allows you to check the form of declarations automatically.
Equally important is the fact that customs control passes automatically. That is, the customs service does not need to carry out one of the forms of control, since software tools do this for them. For example, the program checks the correspondence of the completed columns with additional documents. Or checks the correctness of the calculation of customs value. The full list of all forms of control in this case is closed.
And of course, you need to mention the distance. Sometimes it happens that it is impossible to appear at a customs post to submit a declaration due to remoteness or other reasons. For such cases, electronic forms are accepted at any customs post. Agree, it is more convenient, without breaking away from the workplace, to submit a form than to rush to a customs point, and then still stand in line.
Long haul
Any electronic declaration of goods goes through several stages before the release of the goods on the basis of the registered and accepted declaration.
First, of course, you must fill out a declaration using a special program. Since each graph contains its own special classification, instructions will be required to fill out. It can be found on legal sites. The full content with the latest changes in filling is in the decision of the Commission of the Customs Union No. 257, which was adopted on May 20, 2010.
The next stage is the formalization of the necessary documents. This stage involves the collection of a package of securities, which is necessary for filing a declaration. It is important to remember that their list will vary depending on the chosen customs procedure. For example, if an import or export of an imported batch takes place, then the information confirming the conclusion of the foreign economic transaction is necessarily attached. In addition to the basic ones, documents proving the value of the goods may be required. Such, for example, include information confirming the origin of the cargo. This is due to the fact that the cost directly depends on the country of production of the consignment.
Then the collected information packages must be processed and registered. To do this, use a special portal.
Release
The following procedure is manual. It is aimed at finding errors that the program is not able to detect. At this stage, the customs inspector checks the contents of the documents received. Since they are sent to the customs post, then the check is carried out at the place of adoption.
After that, if all the conditions of the declaration are fulfilled, namely compliance with the prohibitions and restrictions, payment of customs duties, fees and taxes and other criteria, the release of the goods takes place.
Present day
To date, the share of goods that were released using electronic customs declaration of goods is 99.81% of the total volume of submitted declarations. The remaining 0.19% are goods with special, legislatively fixed rights, which were described earlier in the article.
If we delve into the exact numbers, from the beginning of 2015 to April 30 of the same year 1,133,390 declarations were issued. Of these, 2,182 were registered using a written declaration.
After electronic declaration has become a mandatory component when moving goods across the state border of the Russian Federation, a report is generated on the number of declarations received. Information is published on a regular basis on the websites of customs and the FCS of Russia.
History
The very first electronic form for declaring goods in the Russian Federation was released back in 2002. Then the ED-1 technology was used. The meaning of this technology was that a special communication channel was used for data transmission. Naturally, this method entailed large financial costs. This was connected not so much with the costs of the communication channel itself as with the volumes of electronic declarations: they were insignificant.
After the ED-1 proved to be effective, but with some flaws, the ED-2 technology was created. These implementations implied using an Internet connection instead of a special communication channel. This was the impetus for the introduction of the method into mass circulation.
Electronic Declaration Center
The year 2012 for the Federal Customs Service of Russia is significant in that it has become possible to file declarations without leaving your home via the Internet using a specialized portal. It should be noted that the project was created on the basis of modern technologies and provided an opportunity to get rid of special software to participants in foreign economic activity. So now the filing of declarations has become possible for all other interested parties. This has become a prerequisite for the transition to mandatory electronic customs declaration of goods.
In this regard, it became necessary to create an electronic declaration center. Such structures meant customs posts, in which the customs procedure took place only in electronic form. This means that the release of the goods took place remotely.
To date, there are 26 centers for electronic declaration of goods. They are located in all federal districts. According to statistics, it is clear that more than 90% of all registered declarations are accounted for precisely these central selling houses.
Advantages and disadvantages
Of course, an important advantage of these centers is that the submission of a declaration can be carried out from any region. In case there are any questions, there is always a connection between the inspector who checks the documentation and the declarant or his representative. Also, an equally important advantage can be considered that the centers provide the ability to confirm receipt of goods.
As mentioned earlier, the advantage of ED is that the time period for the release of goods is reduced. With electronic declaration, the release period takes from 3 hours. Customs clearance is also simplified due to the fact that all archive data, including deliveries, are stored on the customs server.
Of course, there are downsides when working with the central electronic code. For example, what participants of foreign economic activity often encounter is a cost inconsistency. Also formalization of documents. Since the submission of the declaration is carried out in electronic form, the formalization remains unchanged. And, perhaps, the most important minus is that the customs do not always cooperate with the centers. This is due primarily to the fact that payments from declarations do not come through customs posts. This means that the overall customs figure will be less. This factor leads to the fact that the total processing time is extended.
Prospects
After the transition from the paper version to the electronic version is completed on January 1, 2015, you should think about how to cope with the load that goes to the customs. Of course, in those regions where foreign economic activity is not going so fast as, for example, in Moscow, there will be no problems. However, busy sectors will have to redistribute the entire data stream. In the future, the distribution will be carried out by the CED regions. This step will be necessary in order to establish relations with countries - members of the World Trade Organization. It must be remembered that centers for electronic declaration were created primarily in order to facilitate and simplify the relationship between agents of foreign economic activity.