The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a law amending the Customs Code. The main changes concern strengthening administrative responsibility for violations of customs rules. Now violators who provide false information about goods in customs declarations will face fines ranging from 30% to 50% of the value of the goods.
Amendments have also been made to Section 473 of the Customs Code regarding vehicles that are returned to owners after customs procedures. Now, owners have 10 days after receiving the vehicles to take them out of the customs territory of Ukraine or place them under another customs regime.
Failure to comply with this obligation may result in a fine of 10,000 to 15,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or even confiscation of the vehicles. The new provisions of the law also consider humanitarian aspects, specifically determining that persons under the age of 16 at the time of the offense cannot have a case initiated against them.
In cases where there are no grounds for initiating a case or the time limits for bringing to justice have expired, the case may be closed. The new rules will simplify the procedure for considering cases of customs violations and will help avoid excessive administrative pressure on citizens.