According to customs rules, only goods for personal use can be freely imported and exported; Goods intended for sale must be declared and duty paid. High rates can make business not so profitable, so some businessmen resort to smuggling. In addition, some things simply cannot be transported legally for the purpose of sale: weapons, drugs, some pieces of art.
To prevent an ordinary person from accidentally becoming a smuggler, you need to learn the rules for transporting things. For example, in Russia you can only take cash in the amount of $10,000 (but in any currency); there are also restrictions on the export of fish, black caviar and diamonds. Thus, recently a Russian woman who flew in from New York was accused of smuggling jewelry because she did not declare a Rolex watch worth about 2.4 million rubles.
Nuances
The imagination of smugglers is inexhaustible, here are just some of the methods of smuggling:
- reduce the customs value of goods;
- declare the code of another product with a lower duty (gray cargo);
- hide on yourself (diamonds in a cast in the famous comedy “The Diamond Arm” or swallowed bags of heroin);
- dig a tunnel under the border;
- use a drone or radio-controlled raft;
- give to a person who is not being examined (for example, a diplomat)
- and etc.
In Ukraine, a 100-meter underground “vodka pipeline” was discovered crossing the border with Moldova. Moreover, this is not the first time an illegal alcohol pipeline has been discovered in Ukraine.
Smuggling of cultural property
Collectors and dealers in works of art have at all times not been stopped by borders and strict legislative regulation of the circulation of such items.
The problem of combating illicit trafficking in cultural property is international in nature and is sometimes associated with countering groups specializing in the theft, resale and illegal export abroad of works of art, ancient coins and other valuables.
At the same time, respectable passengers and users of international postal services may attract the attention of law enforcement officers and be subject to criminal prosecution due to their ignorance.
Moving cultural property across borders
A special procedure for moving across the border has been established for cultural property. Individuals and legal entities have the right to export, temporarily export, import or temporarily import cultural property.
At the same time, individuals may import and export cultural property in the manner prescribed for goods transported for personal use, subject to the conditions established for the movement of such items. Cultural property is subject to mandatory written declaration by citizens using a passenger customs declaration (PTD).
According to Art. 5 of the Law “On the Export and Import of Cultural Property” these include movable objects of the material world, regardless of the time of their creation, that have historical, artistic, scientific or cultural significance.
The list of cultural property for which a permitting procedure for export from the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as the Union) has been established, the rules for their export from the Russian Federation to other states that are not member states of the Union are determined by decisions of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
Thus, the list of cultural property subject to control when moving across the customs border of the Russian Federation is determined by section 2.20 of the Unified List of Goods to which prohibitions or restrictions on import or export are applied by member states of the Union in trade with third countries, approved by the Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission dated 21 April 2015 No. 30. The list, in particular, includes works of painting, sculpture, printed publications, coins, antique weapons, musical instruments, etc.
The legal regulation of the import or export of cultural property from the territory of one member state of the Union to the territory of another member state of the Union has its own characteristics.
In particular, despite the fact that the Union ensures freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labor (Article 29 of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union), it allows for the possibility of limiting the turnover of certain categories of goods, including for the protection of cultural property.
The procedure for the import and export of cultural property by citizens
When imported by individuals into the Russian Federation, including during their temporary stay in the country, cultural property is subject to customs declaration in writing using PTD.
Cultural property, other items and documents included in the Unified List are exempt from customs duties and taxes, regardless of their value and weight. When importing, the customs authority must submit an opinion from an authorized expert regarding the classification of the transported items as cultural property. The corresponding list of experts on cultural property, indicating their specialization, including those who carry out examinations at airports, is posted on the website of the Ministry of Culture.
Export by individuals of cultural property as goods for personal use is possible with a conclusion (permit document) and also requires the submission of a PDD.
The export of cultural property previously imported as goods for personal use is carried out upon presentation to the customs authority of a PDD, issued upon import of cultural property, containing identification features of the specified cultural property (name, author, year of creation, material and technique of creation, size, etc.).
In other cases, export (temporary export) is carried out in the presence of a conclusion (permit document) issued by the territorial department of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, or a written notification that there is no need for a permit document for export.
In the case of the export by individuals of weapons that have cultural value, but are not classified as antique weapons, in addition to the conclusion (permit document), a conclusion (permit document) of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops is presented.
The export of cultural property by individuals registered as individual entrepreneurs and legal entities is carried out on the basis of an appropriate license.
Article 35.1 of the Law “On the Export and Import of Cultural Property” defines cultural property that is not subject to export without the obligation to re-import it (of special significance, permanently stored in state museums and some others).
The Ministry of Culture has developed methodological recommendations for the preparation of documentation for the import and export of cultural property to the Russian Federation, which are posted on the ministry’s website.
Criminal liability for smuggling of cultural property
Illegal export and import of cultural property may result in criminal liability under Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code (smuggling) or administrative according to one of the offenses provided for in Ch. 16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (administrative offenses in the field of customs affairs). It also provides for criminal liability (Article 190 of the Criminal Code) for failure to return within a specified period of time to the territory of the Russian Federation cultural property exported outside its borders, if such return is mandatory in accordance with the law.
Thus, Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code provides for liability for the illegal movement across the customs border of the Customs Union within the EurAsEC or the state border of the Russian Federation with member states of the Customs Union within the EurAsEC on a large scale. The crime is considered serious even if it is mostly unskilled and is punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years.
The qualifying signs of a crime are the commission of a crime by an official using his official position, the use of violence against a person exercising customs or border control, as well as the commission of a crime as part of an organized group (there is no prior conspiracy as a sign, but it can be recognized by the court as an aggravating circumstance) . The most severe sanction of the article provides for a penalty of imprisonment of up to twelve years.
Smuggling is possible through the illegal movement of cultural property both across the customs border of the Union and across the state border of the Russian Federation with member states of the Union.
Naturally, when deciding whether a person’s actions contain signs of a crime under Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code, it is necessary to establish the belonging of illegally moved items to cultural values and their value, for which the investigator and the court must have the appropriate opinions of experts or specialists.
According to note 4 to Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code, a large amount of cultural property is recognized as having a value exceeding one hundred thousand rubles.
The most typical way of illegal movement by individuals of cultural property is their transportation by passengers in luggage when traveling by road, rail and air transport. There are frequent cases of sending cultural property in international mail. Such facts are revealed during customs inspection of baggage or IPO.
Methods of smuggling
Smuggling of cultural property is possible by moving it outside designated locations, concealing it from customs control, falsely declaring or not declaring it, as well as using documents containing false information about such valuables.
Concealing cultural property from customs control is the commission of any actions aimed at making it difficult to detect them or concealing their true properties, including making one item look like another, using hiding places specially made or adapted for smuggling in items of luggage, clothing or equipped on vehicles.
Non-declaration as a method of committing smuggling consists in a person’s failure to comply with the requirements for declaring goods, that is, reporting to the customs authority in the prescribed form information about the goods, the chosen customs procedure and other necessary information. Possibly by not declaring cultural property or part thereof to the customs authority (part of the cultural property is not declared, or when moving several items, information about only one of them is reported in the customs declaration, or cultural property other than those for which information was declared is presented to the customs authority in the customs declaration).
If the declarant declares information that does not correspond to reality (unreliable), then these actions are considered as an unreliable declaration of goods.
Smuggling is also possible by providing the customs authority with documents containing false information about imported or exported items as grounds or conditions for the movement of cultural property.
Illegal movement of objects committed with the use of a counterfeit official document or seal made by another person is fully covered by smuggling and does not require additional qualifications under Art. 327 CC. If a person uses an official document forged by him, the act is qualified as a set of crimes provided for in Articles 327 and 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
What will happen to confiscated cultural property?
In cases of this category, the provisions of Chapter 15.1 of the Criminal Code on the confiscation of items of illegal movement across the border and any income from this property are applied, with the exception of property and income from it that is subject to return to the rightful owner.
If the owner of contraband items is a person found guilty of their illegal movement, then such contraband items are subject to confiscation.
In accordance with Part 3 of Art. 81 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, when passing a sentence, as well as a ruling or order to terminate a criminal case, the court must resolve the issue of contraband items recognized as material evidence.
If the legal owners are not identified, the smuggled items become the property of the state by a court decision. In this case, disputes about the ownership of contraband items recognized as material evidence are resolved through civil proceedings.
Conclusion
As practice shows, citizens often do not declare transported items due to simple ignorance of customs legislation, the procedure for the import and export of cultural property, as well as lack of awareness of what items are prohibited from moving across the border. When sending items in international mail, senders and recipients do not check whether they are prohibited for movement by this method, and do not consult the current information resources of the Ministry of Culture, customs authorities and postal services.
Transportation of cultural property is strictly controlled. In order to avoid becoming involved in a criminal case, it is necessary to take the issue of obtaining permits seriously and foresee in advance all the nuances of moving cultural property across the border.
