The Federal Customs Service of Russia (FCS) notified the Association of International Road Carriers (ASMAP) on August 28 that the 2004 agreement that recognized International Road Transport (TIR) carnets as guarantee of customs payments would be terminated on December 1, 2013, the FCS has announced.
According to the customs agency, it notified ASMAP’s guarantee union three months before the date of the impending termination of the agreement.
Previously, the agreement was automatically renewed every calendar year unless one of the parties to it notified the other party in writing three months to the date of planned termination of the agreement.
The Russian customs said that the debt to the Russian budget resulting from non-delivery of goods under the TIR procedure exceeded RUB 20 billion (over USD 650 million) as of July 1, 2013.
At the same time, ASMAP considers these allegations unfounded. "The FCS of Russia not only failed to present documents confirming accumulation of debts totaling RUB 20 billion, it also failed to provide justification for the existence of debt for 2010-2013, as mentioned in its press release dated July 5, 2013,” ASMAP said.
Russian customs officials previously announced that they were ending cooperation with ASMAP from August 14, but they later moved the date to September 14.
ASMAP is a member of the International Road Transport Union (IRU). The International Customs Convention provides for the use of TIR Carnets to prove the existence of the international guarantee for duties and taxes for goods transported under the TIR system. However, it will now be necessary to provide national guarantee (such as a bank guarantee or a surety) in Russia.
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