A new version of the law on Customs regulation in Belarus

A new version of the Law on Customs Regulation in Belarus is currently being signed by the President. The changes were due to the alignment with the Customs Code of the EAEU, the legislation of the EAEU, and the practice of applying the current law.

The new law provides for several innovations, here are some of them:

• The list of duties of individuals and legal entities engaged in activities in the field of customs affairs is expanding, for example, the provisions on the need to obtain a permit to change the place of temporary storage of goods before their release are stipulated; on the obligation of the pledgor to conduct an independent assessment of the pledged object at his own expense at least one time in three years.
• A number of persons are granted the right to perform actions on behalf of the carrier: a customs representative or other persons acting on behalf of the carrier – for example, to provide preliminary information about goods intended for import into the customs territory of the EAEU to Belarus by road, a freight forwarder, other persons acting on behalf of the carrier, to perform customs operations related to the customs declaration of vehicles.
• The possibilities of using electronic forms of documents and electronic interaction in customs legal relations are expanding. In particular, the customs declaration, applications for the refund of customs and other payments, etc. are submitted in the form of an electronic document; the submission of a customs declaration in writing is allowed only in cases stipulated by Law.