Criminal liability for smuggling of goods is introduced as of July 1

Starting from July 1, 2024, Law 5313-IX introduced criminal liability for commodity smuggling:

♦ with a value of UAH 7.57 to 15.14 million in the form of a fine of UAH 170 to 425 thousand,

♦ worth more than UAH 15.14 million - liability ranging from a fine of UAH 850 thousand to imprisonment for 11 years with confiscation of property.

And for excisable goods worth UAH 1.136 million to UAH 2.271 million, the sanction will be from a fine of UAH 340 thousand to 6 years in prison, and for goods worth more than UAH 2.271 million - from a fine of UAH 1.275 million to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The authors of the draft law pointed to the low effectiveness of the consideration of cases on combating customs offenses in courts in terms of the number of closed cases on customs offenses, the low percentage of court decisions on prosecution for customs offenses, the low economic effect of applying economic penalties in the form of fines and confiscation, and the low percentage of state budget revenues from the sale of goods confiscated by court decisions.

In my opinion and the opinion of experts, the main reasons for such an unsatisfactory state of affairs in combating customs offenses are:

► the actual collapse of the effective system of combating and preventing customs offenses in the customs authorities, which occurred during the period of lack of organizational and institutional independence of the customs after its absorption by the Ministry of Revenues and Duties

► a real staff shortage in this area of customs activity, both in the organizational and professional sense, which arose after the actual "takeover" of the customs by the tax authorities;

► critical loss of the dynamics of interaction with the customs authorities of neighboring countries and interaction within the framework of international customs cooperation;

► crisis of systematic analysis of the results of consideration of cases on violation of customs rules in courts, lack of practice of generalization of such decisions, lack of initiative in protecting the interests of the state in courts, which leads to decisions not in favor of the state;

► poor quality of the protocols on permanent residence, unprofessional representation of the state's interests in courts, which leads to decisions not in favor of the state;

► the absence of customs guard units in the customs authorities, which makes it virtually impossible to counteract customs offenses on the "green border" and in the customs territory of Ukraine.

MP Nina Yuzhanina, analyzing the provisions of the law, which will come into force on the 1st of next month, concludes that everyone will face problems (from customs officers, foreign economic operators to ordinary Ukrainian citizens).