Vitebsk customs officers seized three car carriers

Three semi-trailer trucks with a total value of about Br3 billion were seized by Vitebsk customs officers for violating the Customs Code of the Customs Union, the Vitebsk Customs informed a BELTA correspondent.

Empty car carriers belonging to a Latvian transport company arrived at the "Bigosovo-1" republican customs clearance point of Vitebsk customs, en route from Latvia to Belarus to commence international transportation of goods. During the verification of information contained in the transportation requests and data obtained from inquiries to companies, it was established that there were no contractual relations with the specified companies regarding the provision of freight forwarding services for international cargo transportation, and the arrival of vehicles for loading was not expected. Subsequently, a representative of the carrier company provided requests for the transportation by these vehicles, commencing and terminating within the customs territory of the Customs Union.

However, in accordance with Art. 342 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, temporary admission into the CU customs territory of international carriage vehicles without payment of customs duties and taxes is permitted for the completion or commencement of international cargo transportation within or outside the CU customs territory. Also, in accordance with Art. 344, the use of international carriage vehicles for the transportation of goods commencing and terminating within the customs territory of the Customs Union without placing the vehicles under a customs procedure is not permitted.

Thus, the drivers of the carrier company, when moving vehicles through "Bigosovo-1", declared knowingly false information in the documents, which are an integral part of the customs declarations for vehicles, providing grounds for moving vehicles across the customs border of the Customs Union without paying customs duties. The actions of the carrier company's drivers show signs of an administrative offense provided for by Art. 14.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus. A Scania P420 truck and Rimo semi-trailers with a total value of Br3 billion have been seized. An investigation is being conducted into this fact. The final decision in this case will be made by the court.

As noted by the Vitebsk customs, this is not the only case of illegal import of vehicles into the territory of the Customs Union. In this regard, Belarusian customs officers once again remind international carriers of the strict observance of the customs legislation of the Customs Union.