Julia Talagaeva spoke about recycling charge at a session of Russian-German Chamber of Commerce working group

A session of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce working group on customs, transport and logistics issues was held on September 19, 2019.

The experts at this round table session discussed the latest news about foreign economic activity, the pros and cons of customs reform, customs procedures and other issues.

Julia Talagaeva, senior associate at Forte Tax & Law, spoke about the problem that almost all manufacturers and importers of self-propelled equipment face following the amendments that were introduced last summer to the government decree regulating the collection of recycling charge. These amendments allowed customs authorities to contend that the main and sole criterion to determine whether a self-propelled machine is subject to recycling charge is customs code. Back then many manufacturers and importers of self-propelled machines started receiving requests from customs authorities to pay recycling charge on machines for which it had not been collected earlier. At the moment, we are successfully representing the interests of a number of manufacturers of self-propelled machines in disputes with customs authorities over the collection of recycling charge. We are about to represent our clients’ interests in the Supreme Court and have also raised this issue in government bodies.

The round table participants agreed that the imposition of recycling charge by customs authorities based solely on customs code is indeed a global problem. But this is not the only one as customs authorities also impose recycling charge upon temporary import of self-propelled machines, and according to the Constitutional Court, this is unlawful and contrary to the legal nature of recycling charge. The recycling charge has been designed to compensate the expenses incurred by the state to recycle equipment in the Russian Federation, and this is not relevant at all in case of temporary import.

The application of TIR Carnet to self-propelled equipment was the subject of a heated discussion among the experts attending the round table session. A certain international system allows importing goods under simplified customs procedures. The round table experts came to the conclusion that this system may be relevant only in case of temporary import of self-propelled equipment and only when equipment is imported for non-commercial use (for example, for exhibition purposes).

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any issues related to recycling charge, please feel free to email Julia Talagaeva