Import and export
Foreign trade: customs declaration, customs payments, foreign-currency settlements and how to account for them
Lessons: from zero to confident
Topics in order: start with the first lesson and read them one by one. 2 lessons
1Lesson 1 What are import and export: where do the words for "bringing in" and "taking out" come from, and who needs foreign trade?The first lesson of the course: what import and export are in plain words, which Latin verbs both words come from, foreign trade using the example of dried apricots and a phone, why customs is needed, and who works in this field.Start →Where did it all begin?
Articles on the history of this field are coming soon: how it emerged, who shaped it and which tools people used.
Articles and briefs
All →How does the export contract price become the customs value: are freight and packing added to the declaration, is delivery abroad deducted?
Export of dried apricots: the contract price is 48 000 dollars, while the customs value in the declaration is 45 950. Where does the difference come from? Under Articles 315, 316 and 317 of the Customs Code: which costs are added, which are deducted, and what happens if documents are missing or the price is determined later.
12 November 2026Which documents are submitted for each of the 16 customs procedures: one table by the articles of the Customs Code
The Customs Code has a separate article for each procedure on the "documents required" for placement. Put side by side, they split the 16 procedures into four groups: declaration and accompanying documents only; procedures that require an additional document; procedures whose list is left to the Cabinet of Ministers; and procedures cleared with a special declaration (a short CCD or a transit declaration). The documents for a processing permit and tips on documents when choosing a procedure.
11 November 2026Which documents are needed for an export (code 10): how does one set of documents serve customs, the tax authority and accounting?
Export documents are needed in four places: by customs, which places the goods under the procedure, by the post at the border, by the tax authority to confirm 0% VAT and by accounting to record revenue. Which document is required by which article, which one serves several purposes at once and which date determines what: the example of an export of granite slabs by rail.
11 November 2026Which documents are prepared for an import (code 40): from the papers that travel with the goods to the journal entry
Before foreign goods reach the warehouse, the documents are collected in three layers: those that travel with the goods, those the carrier presents at the border and those the declarant submits to customs. What the Customs Code lists precisely, what it leaves to the Cabinet of Ministers and which entry is made in the books on the basis of each document: the example of an import of furniture fittings.
11 November 2026If a buyer makes a claim about exported goods or the goods do not arrive: how are a discount, compensation and the exchange difference recorded in the accounts?
Some of the LED lamps sent to Bishkek were damaged in transit, and the buyer asked for a price reduction. Is this a sales discount or compensation under a claim, at which rate is the discount recorded if the receivable was remeasured at month-end, what happens if the goods do not arrive at all, and what is done with the customs declaration and payments: full accounting under the Customs Code and NAS No. 21.
11 November 2026Where are freight, insurance, broker and certificate costs recorded in an export, and how do the delivery terms change the seller's profit?
The buyer offered two prices: at the lower one he collects the cargo from the warehouse himself, at the higher one the seller pays the freight and insurance. Why export costs go not to the cost of the product but to 9410, which line records each of them, and which offer leaves more profit: a calculation on the example of mung beans.
11 November 2026Export through an intermediary (commission agent): on whose balance sheet are the goods, when is revenue recorded and which documents are needed for 0% VAT?
A small manufacturer did not enter the foreign market itself and entrusted its export to an experienced trading company. On whose balance sheet does the atlas silk handed to the intermediary remain, at which rate is revenue recorded, where does the agency fee go, and when is VAT credited if the money arrives in the intermediary's account: the principal's and the commission agent's accounting in one example.
11 November 20260% VAT on export: in which month is the VAT paid on raw materials credited, how is the negative difference refunded and what is recorded in the books?
No VAT is charged on export sales, but the VAT paid on raw materials is not lost. It is credited step by step as the buyer's money arrives, and in the end a negative difference appears. The difference between the zero rate and exemption, a two-month calculation, the refund procedure and journal entries using the example of a juice company.
11 November 2026Two foreign-currency advances were received for an export and the goods were shipped later: at which rates is revenue recorded and how is the remaining receivable remeasured?
Half of the contract amount arrived in advance in two parts, the rest after shipment. One sale is recorded at three different rates: each advance at the rate of its own day, the remaining part at the rate of the shipment day. Why the advance is not remeasured at month-end while the remaining receivable is: the full chain using the example of a knitwear company.
11 November 2026Free warehouse (code 73): if foreign goods are stored duty-free and without a time limit, what may be done there and how is cost calculated when part is imported?
A spare parts trader brought in 1 000 boxes of goods, but the domestic market needs only 600 of them for now. What the free warehouse procedure offers, which works are allowed there, why retail trade is prohibited and why two parts of one consignment end up with different costs in the books: 8 points and an accounting example.
11 November 2026Processing within the customs territory (code 51): if a product is made from a foreign customer's raw material, what is formalised at customs and what is recorded in the books?
A Kazakh customer sends aluminium profile, and a workshop in Uzbekistan assembles window frames from it and ships them back. Is duty paid on the profile, for how many years is the permit issued, what happens to the leftover profile and what does the workshop show on its own balance sheet: the example of one workshop under the Customs Code and NAS No. 21.
11 November 20266 methods of determining customs value: how do you move on to the next one if the first does not work, and does it affect the cost of the goods?
The contract price does not always become the customs value. The Customs Code requires six methods to be applied in strict order. When each method is used, what is prohibited under the fallback method and how customs value differs from cost in the accounts: 8 points and a worked example of the deductive method.
10 November 2026