LEGAL LIABILITY FOR ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES SMUGGLING CAN BE INCREASED

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has developed a document establishing responsibility for the illegal import of alcohol and tobacco from the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Punishment may occur in case of importing products worth more than 100 thousand rubles.

In order to let the legal norm ‘work’, it was proposed to include these goods in the list of strategically important ones, by making changes to the government decree.

According to the authors of the innovation, the norms of article 200.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes responsibility for the smuggling of alcohol and tobacco, is not applicable in this case. The punishment for it is provided when the cost of goods is 250 thousand rubles or more. While the smuggling of strategically important goods has a lower cost threshold and provides for a sanction in the form of imprisonment up to 12 years and fines.

According to the experts, about 2/3 of the illegal market for tobacco products is occupied by goods imported from the EAEU countries. Quite often, they enter our country under the guise of transit, but they are never exported, as their owners try to find the possibility of realization here, says the explanatory note to the document.

At the moment, the draft resolution prepared by the Ministry of Finance is undergoing the stage of an independent anti-corruption expertise.