EAEU–UAE Agreement: What Your Russian Buyer Will Now Ask You to Prove Before Shipment

Zero by default, and the list of exceptions

The decision is built the other way round from what most suppliers expect. The general rule: goods originating in the UAE and imported into the EAEU in accordance with the Agreement are subject to an import customs duty rate of 0 per cent of the customs value. The exception is goods included in the approved list — those have their own rates set for them.

For your shipment this means your buyer will run a very simple check: they look for the ten-digit code in the list. Not there — duty is calculated at zero. There — they take the rate from the list and compare it with the tariff rate. What the check will not do is reward the route. The fact that a container left Jebel Ali gives nothing on its own: the preference is tied to the origin of the goods and to compliance with the conditions of the Agreement, not to the port of loading. Goods of Chinese or Indian origin transhipped in an Emirati port are imported on general terms.

Timing matters for your shipping schedule too. The decision enters into force on the date the Agreement itself enters into force, but not earlier than 30 calendar days from the date of its official publication. There is therefore a window in which a cargo that leaves too early will be cleared under the old rates — and your buyer may prefer to move the loading date rather than lose the preference on a large consignment.

How the rate is determined: the list, the CCT and the lower-amount rule

The decision contains a protective rule that is easy to miss when a supplier quotes an "after the agreement" price. If the amount of import customs duties calculated at the rates of the EAEU Common Customs Tariff is lower than the amount calculated at the rates from the list, the CCT rate applies. In plain terms: for goods in the list your buyer will never pay more than they would outside the Agreement — but there is no automatic saving there either, and you should not promise one in a quotation.

The comparison is between amounts, not percentages. That is decisive for lines with combined and specific rates, where the result depends on weight, volume or quantity: at one price per kilogram the tariff wins, at another the list rate does. This is exactly why your buyer will start asking for cleaner line-level data — net weight per item, volume, quantity in the unit used by the code — and why a packing list that rounds figures or aggregates lines will hold up the calculation. If the goods also require conformity assessment, plan that in parallel: certification requirements are unaffected by the duty rate.

Gold, silver and platinum bullion: zero only against a processing commitment

A separate regime is set for refined bullion of silver, gold and platinum — subheadings 7106 91 000 1, 7106 91 000 9, 7108 12 000 1, 7108 12 000 9, 7110 11 000 1 and 7110 11 000 9 of the EAEU HS nomenclature. For these, the zero rate applies irrespective of the value, quantity and weight of the imported goods, but on one condition: the person importing the bullion must hold a special document, issued by an authorised body of an EAEU member state, confirming the commitment to carry out its subsequent processing. In all other cases the rates according to the list apply to these positions.

The processing document must exist at the moment of import, not after release — and it is issued to your buyer, not to you. If it is not ready in time, the bullion is cleared at the list rates, and the payment cannot be recalculated retroactively on the basis of a document obtained later.

The practical consequence for the shipper is scheduling. A refiner or trading desk supplying processors and jewellery manufacturers should treat the buyer's confirmation that the document is in hand as a shipping precondition, on the same level as the freight booking. Despatching the first lot "on the assumption of zero" before the commitment is formalised creates an unplanned duty and a cash gap on the consignee's side — and that lands on the commercial relationship. When the case is not obvious, it is cheaper to run a pre-shipment check of codes and documents through customs clearance support than to discover the problem at release.

Delivery terms: who actually keeps the saving

A zero rate does not make a shipment cheaper for the party that does not pay the duty. The classic case is DDP, where all costs and formalities sit with the seller. Under that scheme the benefit of the preference stays with you as the supplier, and the buyer sees the same price as before: the duty reduction never reaches their cost base. Expect this to become a negotiation point — where the Agreement opens zero for your nomenclature, buyers will push to change the basis so that they act as declarant themselves and can apply the preference directly. If you move away from DDP, you also hand over the clearance leg, so agree early who arranges sea freight or air delivery and where your responsibility ends.

The second point is documents. The preferential rate applies to goods originating in the UAE and imported in accordance with the Agreement, so origin evidence and compliance with the conditions of supply become part of the mandatory set, not a formality. Check that origin is stated identically in the commercial documents, in the transport documents and in what you send for the declaration: discrepancies between the invoice, the packing list and the origin confirmation are the single most common reason a preference is refused — and every one of those three documents is produced on the exporter's side.

Finally, zero duty does not cancel the rest of the payments. Import VAT, customs fees for the performance of operations and, where applicable, excise are calculated in the usual way. If the goods are subject to mandatory conformity assessment or marking, those requirements remain in full regardless of the rate. Keep that in mind when you build a landed-cost argument into your offer — the buyer's own calculation will include all of it.

What the exporter should do

1. List the ten-digit EAEU HS codes for everything you ship or plan to ship into the EAEU from the UAE, and have each one checked against the approved list before you quote.
2. For positions in the list, make sure your documents carry the data needed to calculate the payment both ways — list rate and CCT rate — namely accurate net weight, quantity and volume per line.
3. Be honest at the offer stage about where the goods are actually produced. If you act as a trading intermediary in the UAE for third-country goods, say so: your buyer cannot claim the preference on them.
4. Agree in advance who confirms origin, in what form, and by when the document reaches the consignee.
5. For refined bullion, do not fix a shipping date until the buyer confirms they hold the subsequent-processing commitment document.
6. Expect a request to move off DDP. Under DDP the saving stays with you; when the buyer declares, it reaches their cost — decide your position before the contract is reopened.
7. Do not ship "against future rates": the decision applies from the date the Agreement enters into force, and not earlier than 30 calendar days after official publication.
8. Keep the permitting side on schedule — certification, declarations of conformity, marking. A change of duty rate does not touch any of it.

Frequently asked questions

Our factory is outside the UAE but we ship through a UAE port. Does the preference apply?
No. The preference applies to goods originating in the UAE and imported in accordance with the Agreement. Transhipment or transit through an Emirati port does not in itself create a right to the zero rate — confirmed origin and compliance with the conditions of the Agreement are required.

Is the zero rate the same thing as duty-free trade as a customs procedure?
No, these are different things. Duty-free trade is a separate customs procedure for selling goods in duty-free shops. Here we are talking about release for domestic consumption under the ordinary rules, simply with an import duty rate of 0 per cent.

What happens if the list rate turns out to be higher than the tariff rate?
The EAEU CCT rate applies. If the amount of duties under the tariff is lower than the amount calculated at the rates from the list, the tariff applies — your buyer will not pay more than they would outside the Agreement.

Can the payment be recalculated if the bullion processing document is obtained after release?
The condition is formulated as the document being held by the person carrying out the import. If it is absent at the moment of import, the rates according to the list apply, which is why it has to be arranged well in advance — and why the shipping date should follow that document, not the other way round.

Summary

Goods from the UAE imported under the Agreement are subject to a rate of 0 per cent, except for the positions in the approved list, and for those positions the payment cannot exceed the amount under the EAEU CCT. For refined gold, silver and platinum bullion the zero applies without restrictions as to value, quantity and weight, but only where the document on the commitment of subsequent processing is held. The decision takes effect from the date the Agreement enters into force and not earlier than 30 calendar days after official publication, so shipping schedules should be planned with a margin. Request a consultation and we will review your specific consignment.

We will check your HS codes against the new list and calculate the duty your Russian buyer will actually pay — before you ship.

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