Russia: Importer of coconut drink won a dispute with the Baltic customs

Published 2021년 10월 14일

Tridge summary

LLC "Trading House RKS" imported Thai 'coconut milk' facing a customs dispute in Russia. The initial import was declared under a lower customs duty code, but a subsequent examination led to the product's re-classification under a higher duty code, increasing the company's costs. The decision was initially upheld by an arbitration tribunal, but a higher court sided with the business, deeming the re-classification incorrect and the product's intended use for both cooking and direct consumption. This incident highlights the complexity of customs disputes, particularly in the re-classification of goods, and the ongoing debate around the marketing of alternative 'milks' that mislead consumers by using the term 'milk' inappropriately, as per the Customs Union's regulations.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

LLC "Trading House RKS", as follows from the data of its website, imports into Russia the specialties of Thailand, including "coconut milk". In 2019, the company declared 34.6 thousand cans of "coconut milk" at the Baltic Customs under the EAEU nomenclature of goods subject to foreign trade code 2202 99 150 0 (8% customs duty rate). According to her, the product “Low Fat Coconut Milk” is intended for direct consumption as a beverage. However, in January 2020, the customs initiated an additional check, carried out an examination within its framework and re-qualified food products to the EAEU nomenclature of goods subject to foreign trade code 2106 90 920 0 (10% customs duty rate). Then the importer appealed to the arbitration court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, asking to invalidate the decision of the Baltic customs. Note that disputes about the re-qualification of goods occupy a significant share in the structure of customs disputes, being one of the most common. ...

Source: Milknews