Parcels being sent to Russia are being stuck at customs offices because of new Customs Code regulations, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on Monday.
The Customs Union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus formally came into existence on January 1, 2010. The Russian and Kazakh presidents approved the Customs Code in June. Belarus has dragged its feet on the ratification, but on Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country had also ratified the document.
However, the Customs Code has led to an increase in red tape, which has caused delays in the delivery of parcels from abroad to Russia, Vedomosti quoted the head of the international postal operator UPS's Russian branch, Ivan Shatskikh, as saying.
He said the problem was that Russia's customs offices are not ready for new regulations, and dispatches worth more than 200 euros ($250) are getting held up at the border.
More than 10,000 parcels were delayed at Russia's customs offices earlier this year because of red tape and the under-declaration of their cost, with delivery terms increasing from 2 weeks to 2 months, Vedomosti said. As a result, international postal operators limited deliveries to Russia.
The paper quoted Shatskikh as saying the new Customs Code regulations may further aggravate the situation.
MOSCOW, July 5 (RIA Novosti)
