The State Tax Service will tighten control over the shipment of excisable goods through delivery services

Within the framework of its functions of controlling the circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcohol distillates, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and fuel, the State Tax Service of Ukraine is systematically taking measures to improve such control in order to strengthen the fight against their illegal production and sale in Ukraine.

Thus, in January 2024, the State Tax Service held a joint meeting with representatives of a leading Ukrainian logistics operator that provides services, in particular, to online merchants, to discuss the need to strengthen control over the transfer of prohibited items.

The STS also drew attention to the need to take appropriate decisions to strengthen control over suspicious shipments and create an effective system to prevent the possibility of sending shipments with excisable goods of dubious origin.

As a result of the measures taken and a meeting held between the STS and one of the largest providers of goods delivery services, an agreement was reached on

Conducting explanatory work with employees involved in accepting shipments for forwarding, providing them with samples of excise tax stamps and demonstrating the places where they should be affixed;

checking suspicious shipments during acceptance for transportation;

prohibiting the transportation of, inter alia, alcoholic beverages with an ethyl alcohol content of more than 8.5% by volume, tobacco products, liquids used in electronic cigarettes that do not have excise tax stamps of the established sample;

refusing to accept suspicious shipments if the customer refuses to consent to the inspection of the contents of such shipments;

Gradual equipping of the points of acceptance of parcels with equipment for checking the contents of parcels without unpacking them.

We welcome such decisions consciously made by a representative of large business in the interests of society, development and stabilization of the state economy and thank you for your willingness to participate in ensuring an increased level of transparency in the circulation of excisable goods in Ukraine.

We hope that all logistics operators and courier services, without exception, will join such decisions, and that business representatives selling alcoholic beverages and tobacco products will take a conscious and responsible attitude to their duties to the state.

The State Tax Service is constantly working to prevent the spread of smuggled and/or counterfeit alcoholic beverages and tobacco products in Ukraine, including through the above preventive measures.