Parallel Import to Russia Is Not a Grey Channel: What It Means for Your Shipment

1. Parallel import is not a grey scheme

The confusion is worth clearing up before anything else, because it affects how exporters treat orders from Russia. Many people — including journalists writing about trade — use "parallel import" as a synonym for smuggling or for shipments that bypass customs. It is not what the term means.

Parallel import is the import of goods into a country without the consent of the trademark holder. That is the whole definition. It says nothing about how the goods cross the border, what is declared, or what is paid.

Goods brought in this way go through ordinary customs clearance, with all customs duties and taxes paid — what the market calls "white" import. The only element that is removed is the requirement to obtain the brand owner's permission, and only for goods that appear on the approved list.

2. What changed on 29 March 2022

Until 29 March 2022, Article 1487 of the Russian Civil Code allowed a branded product to be imported into Russia either by the rights holder itself or by someone acting with its consent. In practice that meant your Russian counterparty had to be your distributor, or to hold a document from you confirming that the specific consignment was authorised. Without it, the goods were exposed to a trademark claim at the border.

The Government Decree of 29 March 2022 legalised parallel import for certain groups of goods, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the list of goods and trademarks it covers. Everything outside that list continues to work under the earlier rule.

So the practical question for an exporter is no longer "is parallel import legal?" but "is my product category and my brand inside the approved list?" The answer determines what your buyer must show at customs clearance, and it is checked against the list as it stands on the day of declaration, not on the day you signed the contract.

Parallel import to Russia is ordinary white clearance: duties and taxes are paid in full, only the brand owner's consent is no longer required

3. Before and after: how the rules compare

Reading the table row by row makes the point that gets lost in the press coverage: only the first two rows changed. Everything to do with the border itself stayed where it was.

4. What this means for your shipment

If you supply a brand your Russian partner is buying without a distribution agreement with you, the deal is not, by that fact alone, irregular. It may be an entirely lawful parallel import — provided the goods sit inside the approved list. That is a matter of Russian law on the importer's side, and it is your buyer, not you, who carries the responsibility for the declaration.

Parallel import removes the need for the brand owner's consent, and nothing else. Duties and taxes are paid in full, the declaration is ordinary, and a missing or inconsistent shipping document holds the goods at the border exactly as it would for any other consignment.

Which is where the practical consequence for you sits. Because the clearance is ordinary, your buyer will ask you for an ordinary — and complete — commercial set: contract, invoice with clearly stated terms and prices, packing list, transport documents, and product data precise enough for the customs code to be assigned without argument. Descriptions such as "spare parts" or "cosmetic goods" are the classic source of delay: the declarant cannot classify the item, sends a query back to you, and the container waits while the answer travels.

Note also that the decision concerns trademark consent only. It does not touch product compliance: whatever certificates or declarations of conformity your goods need in order to be placed on the Russian market are still needed, and are usually easier to arrange before the goods are in transit than after — see certification. If you are unsure which of your product lines the question touches at all, the general overview of logistics and customs clearance is the place to start.

5. What the exporter should do

1. Stop treating the term as a red flag. A Russian buyer who mentions parallel import is describing a legal route, not asking you to help avoid customs.
2. Establish whether your goods and brand are on the approved list before you quote delivery dates. The list is maintained by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and defines which categories and trademarks the rule covers.
3. Ask your buyer, in writing, what they will need at clearance — the exact document set and how the goods must be described. Do it at the order stage, not when the truck is loaded.
4. Describe the goods precisely in the invoice and packing list. Model, material, composition, purpose, quantity per package. This is the single largest controllable factor in how long clearance takes.
5. Keep documents consistent across the whole set. The same weights, the same quantities, the same product names in the contract, invoice, packing list and transport document. Discrepancies trigger checks.
6. Handle compliance documents in parallel with production, not after shipping, so that the certification timeline does not become the delivery timeline.
7. Answer clearance queries fast. Once goods are at the border, every hour spent waiting for a clarification from your side is storage cost and a later delivery date.

6. Frequently asked questions

Does parallel import mean the goods enter Russia outside customs control?
No. This is the central misunderstanding. Parallel import is a fully legal method of import with all customs duties and taxes paid — "white" import in every respect. The only thing not required is the trademark holder's permission.

Does my Russian buyer still need a letter of authorisation from us?
For goods included in the Ministry of Industry and Trade list, the rights holder's consent is not required, so such a letter is not what clearance turns on. Your buyer will still need the full commercial and transport document set from you.

Is every brand covered?
No. The rule applies to the goods and trademarks included in the approved list. It was legalised for selected groups of goods, not across the board.

What if our brand is not on the list?
Then the earlier position applies: the goods may be imported by the rights holder or with the rights holder's consent, as provided by Article 1487 of the Civil Code.

Does this change how long clearance takes?
The procedure itself is unchanged. Timing depends on what it always depended on — the quality and consistency of the documents that travel with the goods.

Summary

Parallel import is not a grey channel: it is legal import with all customs duties and taxes paid, in which the trademark holder's consent is not required, provided the goods are on the list approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Before 29 March 2022 such import was prohibited under Article 1487 of the Civil Code; the Government Decree of that date changed it for selected groups of goods. For you as the shipper, the practical effect is narrow but real — your buyer's right to import is no longer tied to your authorisation, while the document set they need from you is exactly as demanding as before. Request a consultation, and we will go through the requirements for your specific shipment.

We can check whether your goods fall under the parallel-import list and prepare the clearance documents your Russian buyer will need.

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