Foreign trade news
and changes in legislation

Three criminal investigations with respect to facts of illegal exportation of consignments of gas-masks have been initiated by the Siberian Operative Customs Authority and Altai Customs regarding chief executives of the supplying companies.

As it was found in the course of inspection by the Siberian Operative Customs Authority, in the end of 2012 a company from the city of Omsk had sold and exported to Kazakhstan of two consignments of individual protective devices of the total number of 278 pieces. In addition, entrepreneurs from the city of Novosibirsk intended to export more than 600 gas-masks as well as components thereto. The attempt in February 2013 was stopped by officials of the Altai Customs and the Frontier Administration of the Federal Security Agency of Russia for the Altai Region.

Pursuant to the customs legislation, the gas-masks figuring in the investigations, are of dual-purpose goods that is, may be used when creating weapons and military hardware. In Russia, such products are subjected to export control and any exportation thereof must be made strictly under licenses issued by the Federal Agency for Technical and Export Control.

The entrepreneurs, despite of knowing the effective restrictions, ignored the requirements of the law and decided to go without respective documents.

The criminal investigations against chief executives of the supplying companies have been initiated by the Siberian Operative Customs Authority and Altai Customs pursuant to part 1 of article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Illegal movement through State Border of the Russian Federation of materials and equipment which can be used when creating mass destructive weapons, means of delivery thereof, other weapons, and other military hardware”). The sanction of the article provides for the punishment of deprivation of liberty for the period of three to seven years with the fine in the amount of up to one million roubles.

Siberian Customs Administration, http://stu.customs.ru, 20 March 2013

Note: as of this date, one million roubles is approximately 33 thousand US dollars.

© Translated from Russian and note by V. Slavinskiy.