The Criminal Code wants to introduce liability for the illegal movement of goods across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the state border of Russia. The State Duma adopted such a bill of the Cabinet of Ministers in the second reading on February 20.
Now the Criminal Code prescribes responsibility for smuggling alcohol and tobacco across the customs border of the EAEU. But these norms do not apply to sections of the Russian state border adjacent to other countries. As a result, the illegal import of tobacco and alcohol products from Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is growing. In particular, from 2016 to 2021, the share of illegal cigarettes imported into Russia increased from 1.1 to 10.7 percent. In 2021, more than half of all illegal shipments entered Russia from the EAEU countries, the Cabinet of Ministers previously noted.
The Cabinet of Ministers proposed to introduce penalties in Russian legislation for the illegal import of alcohol and tobacco from the EAEU countries. According to the initiative, the perpetrators will be able to be prosecuted regardless of whether they move goods across the border of the Russian Federation that coincide with the customs border of the EAEU, or across the border of the Russian Federation adjacent to other member states of the union.
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