Which documents are submitted for each of the 16 customs procedures: one table by the articles of the Customs Code

When choosing a procedure, people usually think about duty, time limits and conditions. In practice, however, another question comes up first: which papers exactly must be taken to customs? The Customs Code answers it with a separate article in the chapter on each procedure. The headings of these articles are almost identical: "Documents required to place goods under the ... customs procedure". Below, these articles for all 16 procedures are gathered into one table. The procedure codes are taken from Annex 3 of the Instruction on the procedure for filling in the cargo customs declaration.

What is submitted under each procedure?

Abbreviations: CCD — cargo customs declaration; AD — accompanying documents of the goods (commercial and transport documents, Article 9 of the Code). The last column shows whether that article itself mentions checking permits in the customs information system.

"Not stated" does not mean there is no check. Part three of Article 249 is a general rule: when clearing goods that require a permit, the customs authority checks whether the permit exists in the information system. This rule is not divided by procedure.

Into which four groups do the 16 procedures fall by documents?

The table leads to an interesting conclusion: the two most used procedures, export and import, are the least spelled out in the Code itself. Their list of documents is set by the Cabinet of Ministers (Articles 31 and 57). The government resolution on declaring goods in force is Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 605 of 31 July 2018 (as amended by Resolution No. 630 of 4 October 2024); the former Resolution No. 197 has been repealed. Paragraph 2 of the resolution approved the Regulation on the procedure for declaring goods (Appendix 1) and the list of minimum data in the invoice for goods imported into the republic (Appendix 1a). Appendix 1a applies only to import, not to export.

Yet Resolution No. 605 does not give a single closed list of documents for all export and import cases either: depending on the type of goods, permits may also be set by other regulations. The Code states that the State Customs Committee must publish the list of documents and information required for clearance on its official website (Article 249, last part). For this reason a "complete list" is not reproduced in this article. The 12 minimum data items of an import invoice are listed in full in the article on import documents.

Which documents are needed for a processing permit?

Under procedures 51 and 61 there is one more stage before the CCD is submitted: obtaining a permit (Article 132). Article 134 divides the documents for the permit into two lists:

In addition:

• no other document not specified in Article 134 may be required from the authorised person;
• the application form is set by the State Customs Committee; documents are submitted on the «one-stop shop» principle through the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services (Article 135);
• the application must be reviewed within no more than ten working days. The period runs from the date all required documents are submitted (Article 137);
• if within that period customs neither issues the permit nor refuses, once the period expires the authorised person may, after notifying customs in writing, place the goods under the procedure. The application showing the date it was accepted and the written notice are treated as equivalent to the permit until it is obtained (Article 137).

Practical tip: how to take documents into account when choosing a procedure?

An example compiled by the author. Over one year "Ufq Stanok" LLC found itself in three different situations with one foreign machine tool:

Tips (practical tip):

1. If documents are missing, consider temporary storage. Goods are placed under procedure 70 with only a short CCD, and customs may not require other documents (Article 86). Under this procedure the goods are stored under customs control until they are released in accordance with the chosen procedure (Article 83), so it gives time to collect the remaining documents for the import. But temporary storage has its own time limits and conditions; check them in the other articles of the chapter.
2. For leases and leasing, prepare the contract in advance. Under procedures 12 and 42, if the goods move under a lease, leasing, warranty service or an investment project, the contract becomes a mandatory document (Articles 38 and 63).
3. For processing, draw up a two-stage schedule. First the documents for the permit (Article 134) and the ten working days of review (Article 137), then the CCD and accompanying documents for clearance (Article 45 or 73). The permit must be in hand before the raw material arrives.
4. Know the form of the certificates in advance. For destruction the certificate is drawn up in the form set by the State Customs Committee (Article 123), and for abandonment a certificate of transfer of the goods is needed (Article 130).
5. In transit, an electronic declaration rather than paper. The transit declaration is submitted to customs electronically (Article 257¹). Agree in advance with the carrier who submits it and when.