FEBRUARY 2000
AUTHOR: IRINA KONSTANTINOVA, Commercial Assistant, US & Foreign Commercial Service (FCS), US Consulate Vladivostok.
APPROVING OFFICER: Principal RICHARD STEFFENS, Commercial Officer, US Consulate Vladivostok.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT, U.S. & FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.
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Summary
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1. This cable provides an update on RFE Customs development. End summary.
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CLEAR-PAC
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2. CLEAR‑PAC (Customs Link Entry/Exit American Russian‑Pacific) is a system for electronic customs clearance. CLEAR‑PAC is administered by the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC) through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Initial shipments using CLEAR-PAC have saved U.S. exporters an average of $30 per cargo ton. CLEAR-PAC now operates in Vladivostok and Sakhalin ports. The next stages of CLEAR-PAC are inclusion of Russian certificate procedures and the Russian Customs Code amendment.
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East by West Corridor Project
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3. The Trans-Siberian railroad provides several accesses to the sea: Vladivostok, Nakhodka, ports of Vostochy, Posyet, and Zarubino. These transportation hubs provide access from Primorsky Krai to China, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Asia Pacific countries via border checkpoints and seaports. Northwest China has no access to the sea. The distance from the U.S. West Coast to Harbin (China) via Primorsky Krai ports is 1,800 km shorter than the distance via Pusan (South Korea) and over 2,500 km shorter than via Kobe (Japan). The transportation sector of the AD HOC working group developed the project "East to West Corridor". The project envisages the creation of a new trade link between the U.S. West coast and the Northern China provinces via the RFE ports. In 1999, a pilot shipment passed through this route.
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The "Black Corridor" Problem
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4. Since 1997, the RFE ports and the Trans-Siberian railroad have been subject to delayed reforms, strikes, government and customs inconsistency, and rail tariff growth. Though the Russian government sets uniform customs levels for all products, some individuals and companies in the Western Russia get customs privileges. (For example, customs value of 1 ton of meat is $1.3 U.S. in Vladivostok vs. to $0.8 U.S. in Moscow.) Local companies have set up representation offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg to seek these privileges as well. This resulted in decrease of RFE port and the Trans-Siberian railroad transit cargo volumes. Over past nine years, the Trans-Siberian railroad volumes declined from 139,000 containers/year to 20,000 containers/year.
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RFE Customs Brokers Association
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5. The Customs Brokers Regulation was adopted in January 1999. By the end of last year the RFE Customs Brokers Association was set up. The founders are five companies providing customs broker services, customs warehouses, customs shipments in Primorsky Krai. The Association is involved in the new Russian Federation Customs Law drafting and in the customs clearance facilitation. Each customs broker must have a license and is controlled by government structures - even by the Specialized Militia Detachment (OMON). Customs brokers offer the customs clearance procedure transparency, tax and payment collection, time and cost savings.
Currently eight customs brokers in Vladivostok process 3% of the international trade cargo; in Sakhalin - customs brokers process 27% of cargo. The FCS office in Vladivostok has a list of the RFE customs brokers.
Key Contacts
U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service
American Consulate General
32 Pushkinskaya street
Vladivostok, Russia
Tel: (7 4232) 300 093
Fax: (7 4232) 300 092
e-mail:
web-site:
Contact: Richard Steffens, Principal Commercial Officer
CLEAR‑PAC U.S.
c/o Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation
(FRAEC)
1932 First Avenue, Suite 803
Seattle,WA, USA 98101
Tel: (206) 443‑1935,
Fax: (206) 443‑0954
e‑mail: fraec@fraec.org
Contact: Carol Vipperman, President
Far East Customs Department
Tel: (7 4232) 412 034, 412 714
Contact: Vitaly Kirsanov, Head
RFE Customs Brokers Association
37 Bestuzheva street, Vladivostok, Russia
Tel: (7 4232) 515 753, 414 776
e-mail:
web-site: www.dvratb.roof.ru
Contact: Evgeny Verkhozin, Chairman
Primorsky Krai Administration
Shipping, sea ports, communications and transportation committee
22 Svetlanskaya street, Vladivostok, Russia
Tel/fax: (7 4232) 227 930
Contact: Ivan Nadein, Chairman
Alexander Lashin, Deputy Chairman