In the Oktyabrsky District Court of Grodno, they spoke about cases of non-declaration of goods and money

February 22, Grodno. The number of cases for non-declaration of goods in the Oktyabrsky District COURT of Grodno in 2023 increased by a third. Judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Grodno Maxim Golubovich told a BELTA correspondent about this.

“The number of cases of administrative offenses considered by the Oktyabrsky District Court of Grodno, in particular for non-declaration or provision of false information about goods, increased by a third in 2023. About 50% of cases in this category were considered in relation to foreign citizens and legal entities registered for outside the Republic of Belarus,” said Maxim Golubovich.

According to the judge, participants in customs legal relations include a wide range of persons associated with the movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union. Judicial statistics show that the number of cases of administrative customs offenses in relation to the total number of cases of administrative offenses submitted to the general courts is large.

“The most common violations committed by individuals when crossing the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union are non-declaration of goods subject to customs declaration (Part 1 of Article 15.5 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses), as well as non-declaration of cash funds subject to customs declaration (Part 2 of Art. 15.5 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offences). In the first case, the law establishes liability in the form of a fine in the amount of 5 to 30 basic units, and for an individual entrepreneur or legal entity - up to 30% of the cost of the subject of the administrative offense, in the second - in the form of a fine in the amount of 5 to 30 basic units with confiscation of undeclared cash and (or) monetary instruments or without confiscation,” noted Maxim Golubovich.

He added that the Oktyabrsky District Court of Grodno imposed an administrative penalty in the form of a fine in 556 cases for failure to declare goods subject to customs declaration under Part 1 of Article 15.5 of the Code of Administrative Offences, for a total amount of more than Br2.851 million.

“Under Part 2 of Art. 15.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for failure to declare funds subject to customs declaration, an administrative penalty in the form of a fine was applied in 186 cases for a total amount of more than Br49.8 thousand, and confiscation was applied in 179 cases.At the same time, confiscation was applied to funds in the following amounts: more than Br26, 7 thousand, more than $37.1 thousand, 6.9 thousand Lebanese pounds, more than 242.1 thousand euros, over 52.7 thousand Russian rubles, 211.4 thousand yuan, 791 Polish zlotys,” said Maxim Golubovich.

The Oktyabrsky District Court also recalled that an individual crossing the entry (entry) line into the “green” corridor is an individual’s statement about the absence of goods subject to customs declaration. In particular, cash is subject to customs declaration if its total amount during a one-time import (EXPORT) into the customs territory of the Union exceeds an amount equivalent to $10 thousand at the exchange rate valid on the day of submission of the passenger customs declaration to the customs authority.

"The classification of goods moved across the customs border as goods for personal use is carried out by the customs authority, and not by a citizen, based on the statement of an individual about the goods being moved, orally or in writing using a passenger customs declaration; the nature and quantity of goods; frequency of crossing individual of the customs border, the frequency of movement of goods across the customs border by this individual or to his address, - added Maxim Golubovich. - The category of goods for personal use, in respect of which customs duties and taxes are subject to payment, include, among other things, goods for personal use (except for ethyl ALCOHOL, alcoholic beverages, beer, indivisible goods for personal use), imported by means of transport other than air or on foot, the cost of which exceeds the equivalent of 1 thousand euros, and (or) the weight exceeds 31 kg". The court drew attention to the fact that the established maximum amounts, cost and weight of goods are variable, therefore, before traveling to cross the customs border, it is necessary to monitor changes in legislation.