Flat RUB 30,000 customs fee in Russia: how your HS code decides what your buyer pays

18 September 2023Trade Pulse

The commodity code you print on the invoice now decides part of what your buyer pays before the goods are released in Russia. Government Decree No. 710 of 6 May 2023 introduced a list of commodity codes for which the fee for customs operations is charged at a flat rate of RUB 30,000; the list has been in force since 16 June 2023. If your goods fall under one of those codes, that charge is fixed and predictable — but only if the code itself holds up against your own technical documents. A code your buyer cannot defend at clearance is the shortest route to reclassification, an amended declaration and a shipment standing still at the border.

What changed for goods moving into Russia

Fees for customs operations are paid in Russia on every import declaration, and until now their size was worked out case by case. For the goods named in Decree No. 710 of 6 May 2023 the calculation is replaced by a single figure: RUB 30,000. The list is closed and published — a shipment either falls under one of its codes or it does not, and there is no middle ground and no discretion at the border.

For you as the shipper this is not a Russian paperwork detail. The fee attaches to the code, and the code comes from the goods you produce and describe. Your buyer will match the code on your invoice against this list before quoting the landed cost, and any change to that code after the goods are already on the road changes the numbers on their side.

Download the list of commodity codes

(file, doc format)

Why the commodity code is now your buyer's first question

The declaration in Russia is lodged by the importer or their customs representative, but almost nothing in it is invented locally. The description of the goods, the material, the composition, the model and the function all come from your invoice, packing list and technical file. The classification is built on that description — which means the exporter effectively sets the starting point, and the Russian side has to defend it.

That is why requests you may not have received before are now routine: a full material breakdown, a datasheet, a photograph of the product and its packaging, the exact model designation. Expect your buyer or their customs clearance provider to ask for these in writing before booking, and to ask you to keep the same wording across every document in the set. Where the goods also need permits, the same description feeds the certification paperwork, so an inconsistency spreads through both tracks at once.

The fee follows the code, not the price. If customs reclassify your goods into a code from the Decree No. 710 list after the declaration has been lodged, the RUB 30,000 charge appears at the worst possible moment — the declaration has to be amended and the consignment waits while it is settled.

Flat RUB 30,000 customs fee in Russia: how your HS code decides what your buyer pays

The commodity code on your invoice decides whether your buyer's declaration falls under the flat RUB 30,000 customs fee

In the list or outside it: what it means for your shipment

Point	Code outside the list	Code from the Decree No. 710 list
Fee for customs operations	Worked out under the general procedure	Flat RUB 30,000
What drives the amount	The parameters of the specific consignment	The commodity code itself
Predictability for your buyer	Calculated once the shipment details are final	Known in advance, as soon as the code is confirmed
Splitting one consignment across several declarations	Each declaration is calculated separately	The flat rate applies to each declaration, so the way the consignment is split matters
If the code is challenged at clearance	The declaration is corrected under the usual procedure	An extra RUB 30,000 may appear, plus an amended declaration and time lost
What you send with the goods	The standard commercial set	The same set plus technical documents that support the code

Note the fourth line. Consolidating several orders into one shipment, or splitting one order into parts arriving at different times, is normally a logistics decision. Where the goods sit on this list, it is also a cost decision — and it is usually made on your side, at the loading stage, not on the buyer's side after arrival.

Documents that keep the code from being challenged

A commodity code is only as good as the description behind it. Prepare the set below once per product and reuse it — most delays come from a description that is too short rather than from a genuinely difficult classification.

Technical datasheet or specification — function, principle of operation, capacity or output, dimensions.
Material or composition breakdown — in percentages where the classification depends on the dominant material.
Exact model and article designation, identical on the invoice, the packing list, the contract and the transport documents.
Photographs of the product and of the retail or transport packaging.
Test reports and manufacturer declarations, if you already hold them for other markets.
Marking on the goods and the packaging that matches the paperwork — mismatched labelling is checked physically, and there is nothing to correct on paper once the container is opened.

Send the documents in English, and be ready for a translation into Russian to be requested: the declarant works with what an inspector can read. Avoid marketing wording in the goods description — a phrase that sells well in a brochure often says nothing about material, function or capacity, and it is exactly those three that decide the code.

What the exporter should do

Take the commodity codes you currently print on invoices for Russia and check them against the list attached to Decree No. 710.
Tell your buyer which of your items fall under the list, so their landed-cost calculation is built on the right figure from the start.
Assemble the supporting file for each affected product: datasheet, composition, model, photographs.
Align the goods description across the invoice, packing list, contract and transport documents — one product, one wording.
Agree with the buyer how the consignment will be split into declarations before you book transport, not after the goods have left.
Where a code is genuinely borderline, have it checked before shipping rather than argued at the border.

Frequently asked questions

We sell FCA or EXW — does this concern us at all?
The fee is paid in Russia by the declarant, so it does not appear on your invoice. It does appear in your buyer's cost calculation, and the documents that determine it come from you. On DDP terms the charge lands within your own delivered price.

Can we simply declare a different code to avoid the flat fee?
No. The code is checked against the description, the composition and the goods themselves, and a mismatch means reclassification with an amended declaration and time lost at the border. It is cheaper to confirm the correct code than to defend a convenient one.

Where can we see the full list of codes?
It was introduced by Government Decree No. 710 of 6 May 2023 and has applied since 16 June 2023. The complete list is available for download above.

How far in advance should the code be settled?
Before the transport is booked. Once the goods are moving, every correction to the code turns into a correction to a declaration that has already been lodged, and that is measured in days at the border rather than hours at the desk.

Summary

Since 16 June 2023 a defined list of commodity codes carries a flat customs operations fee of RUB 30,000 in Russia. Whether your goods fall under it is decided by the code, and the code is decided by the description and technical documents you supply. Check your current codes against the list, prepare the supporting file for each product, and agree the split into declarations before shipping. Request a consultation, and we will go through your specific shipment.

We will check the commodity codes and supporting documents for your shipment against the Decree No. 710 list before you book the truck.

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