In Ukraine, thought about another customs reform. According to the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance Yevgeny Kapinus, maintaining a "single window" at customs has not only given advantages, but also revealed serious problems in the work of various services at the border.
“A single window in fact made it possible to check the documents by all regulatory authorities in 4 hours. But now businesses are starting to say that it's not always profitable. Because at the expense of bribes to customs officers it is possible to cross border much faster », - Kapinus told.
According to the head of the customs policy department of the Ministry of Finance Alexander Moskalenko, the Cabinet Resolution №364 of May 25, 2016 gave the right to other border controllers (environmentalists, representatives of radiological and veterinary control) to conduct selective control. However, none of the departments took advantage of this. Everyone wants total control.
“Only now these bodies are not coping with the workload. Previously, they stamped without looking, without leaving the office. And now they have to go to inspect each cargo and they simply do not have enough people and opportunities for such control, "Moskalenko said.
As a result, according to a survey conducted by Gfk Ukraine for the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, only 20% companies had experience going through the "single window". The rest either did not have it at all or used the services of customs brokers.
According to the Ministry of Finance, they are already preparing a plan to reform the work of customs.
How will they reform
“Business sees in a single window the unpredictability of both financial and time costs in the design of the same import transactions. At the same time, the presence of smuggled flows significantly reduces the competitiveness of legal importers ", - assured the General Director of the Association" Ukrainian Importers of Consumer Electronics "Sofia Araslanova
All measures to combat illegal border crossing end with bona fide importers paying for unscrupulous or queuing.
Therefore, within the framework of the government-approved concept of reforming the GFS, the Ministry of Finance has developed its own plan. These are not yet ready-made solutions that will be embodied in laws and regulations.
As the adviser to the Minister of Finance Yuri Draganchuk explained, the department realized that the point changes do not have an effect. Therefore, we decided to radically change the assessment of the actions of the customs officers themselves and the methods of their work.
In total, the action plan for customs reform includes 19 areas, which are planned to be approved by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers by the end of July. The issues of staff training and communication with the outside world are more important for the customs itself. The most interesting for business are changes in the procedures for determining the customs value and the passage of goods.
Customs clearance in a new way
In direction 7 (Customs obligations) it is proposed to introduce standard algorithms for estimating the customs value of goods, their classification, determination of the country of origin.
"In order for customs officers to have as little room for imagination as possible, they will try to prescribe as clearly as possible all actions to be performed by a customs officer," Svyatoslav Bartosz, head of the customs branch of the European Business Association's Kharkiv branch, told UBR.ua.
For example, first check the documents for discrepancies in the data confirming the value of the goods. And depending on the result, proceed to the next paragraph of the instructions. So, if differences are found - to demand documents from the importer with explanations of such discrepancies. But so far there are no algorithms themselves.
Equally important for business is the introduction of strict liability of customs officers for their actions. They want to make the customs officer as independent as possible in actions both from his superiors and other representatives of the controlling bodies who work at the customs post (for example, the SBU).
The Ministry of Finance proposes to introduce coefficients for assessing the performance of inspectors (KPIs), on which, among other things, their salaries will depend. Among the evaluation criteria, for example, will be the absence of business complaints about the inspector's work.
“After the introduction of the KPI, we will have a full moral right to strengthen control over the work of customs officers. To ensure the inevitability of punishment for violations. These will be separate audit units within the customs, subordinated directly to its head, "said Yuri Draganchuk.
So far, according to Svyatoslav Bartosz, it is proposed to distribute the salaries of customs officers as follows: 70% - salary and 30% bonus. That is, a third of the salary will depend on the performance of the three blocks of KPIs. The first - the presence of comments from management, the second - compliance with professional requirements, the third - the absence of business complaints.
"It is very important to introduce a mechanism of responsibility, because now it is almost impossible to call a customs officer to account for his actions," said Svyatoslav Bartosz.
According to Eugene Kapinus, already now 10% from the overfulfillment of customs duties goes to further ensure the work of customs. Which allowed to raise the salary in fact to 10 thousand. UAH Thus, they are trying to remove the so-called "domestic corruption" at customs.
Insurance instead of money
Another important point is the improvement of the system of guarantees for the payment of customs duties. As you know, now the company, which does not agree with the overestimation of the customs valuation of the cargo, can pay to the budget in their own way, and the amount of the difference to provide fingarantii. This is usually a deposit for customs.
“Such guarantees are valid for 90 days. But during this time, companies usually do not have time to appeal the decision of customs, and the money goes to the budget. And then the company is forced to once again go through a series of lawsuits to return from the budget overpaid funds, "- said Svyatoslav Bartosh.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposes to extend the term of these guarantees. As far as - the question is still open. All of the above also applies to the procedures for changing the product code, when due to a change in coding, the duty rate increases.
Plus, it is planned to involve insurance companies or banks in this process, which could issue their documentary guarantees so that companies do not freeze their working capital on a customs deposit. This is a kind of insurance policy in case the company cannot sue for its payments. The bank or insurance company will pay customs and then demand money from the importer.
Finally, as Alexander Moskalenko explained, an audit of all processes related to foreign trade in non-tariff regulation will be conducted: obtaining all kinds of papers from veterinary services, environmental control, etc. To eliminate ineffective or duplicate documents and procedures. This will save businesses money and reduce customs clearance time. And the state will be able to rise in the ranking of ease of doing business (Doing Business).
“The abolition of a number of non-tariff procedures will reduce the number of controllers. Plus we want to reduce the list of goods that are subject to special control. For example, now Gosprodpotrebsluzhba is preparing a resolution, which will specify about 9.5 thousand. codes of goods for which it is not necessary to receive sanitary and hygienic conclusions ", - Alexander Moskalenko told.
We will remind, this document is obligatory at transportation of household chemicals, foodstuff, special food additives, organic and mineral fertilizers, goods for children, various types of fuel, the equipment and other.
Plus - the cancellation of the certificate of declaration of currency values is being prepared. According to the Ministry of Finance, the draft order has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice for approval.
"Now the company first needs to declare the currency, and then get a certificate from the tax that it is done. They also submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers a draft law on the abolition of declaring currency values abroad, ”the Ministry of Finance said.
As a result, it is planned to find a balance between the interests of the state and the declarants. In order not to ruin the legal business with excessive control and not to give free rein to smugglers.
"The compromise will most likely be the EU norms, which according to the association agreement should be introduced in Ukraine," Alexander Moskalenko said.
The material is published on the website: UBR.ua
