1. Advisory and legal services in a customs inspection:

• Advising on customs inspection subjects, situation analysis, and elaboration of corporate strategy to pass the inspection;

• Advising on actions of customs officials during the customs inspection;

• Representing corporate interests at the customs authority;

• Reviewing the customs authority demand on submission of documents and information required for the tax inspection;

• Assisting with the document package to be submitted into the customs authority for potential post-release customs control;

• Advising on written explanation statement if requested by the customs authority;

• Consulting and drafting litigation documents in appointing a customs review during tax inspection. Representing corporate interests in a customs review during tax inspection. Customs review follow-up advice, strategy formulation to appeal from the customs review results. Drafting of litigation documents and representing corporate interests in appealing from the customs review results;

• Analysis of customs inspection results, advice on further actions to defend corporate interests;

• Drafting documents to appeal from the customs inspection results;

• Representing at a higher-level customs authority and/or court in appealing from the customs inspection results.

2. Consulting and legal services in other forms of customs control:

• Representing corporate interests in customs examination of premises and territories, including reviewing the customs examination results for premises and territories, evaluating the legitimacy of actions taken by the customs officials, drafting of litigation documents based on the above customs examination results;

• Representing corporate interests in customs screening as part of the post-release control;

• Consulting in drafting the explanations requested by the customs.

1. Appealing from administrative offense rulings under Chapter 16 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation:

• Advising on powers of customs authorities under Chapter 16 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation;

• Representing corporate interests in the administrative proceedings;

• Analyzing the case materials, working out corporate defense strategy in administrative proceedings and/or hearing of administrative cases;

• Representing corporate interests in hearing of administrative cases;

• Appealing the actions of customs officials in court and in competent authorities in case of administrative proceedings;

• Appealing administrative case results in court and in competent authorities.

2. Appealing the customs value adjustment resolutions:

• Advising on powers of customs authorities in the field of customs value control;

• Elaborating a legal strategy of interaction with the customs authorities in the customs clearance stage;

• Drafting the package of documents and a reply to query of the customs authority;

• Preparing an application and a dossier to the customs authority and/or commercial (arbitration) court on disputing the customs value of commodity;

• Legal contacts with the customs authority or the commercial (arbitration) court during request for arbitration (опять же, непонятно, какой арбитраж???);

• Appealing from the resolution after proceedings in the application;

• Representing corporate interests during proceedings in the application;

3. Appealing from customs authority resolutions on commodity classification:

• Advice on powers of customs authorities in classification of commodities;

• Elaborating a legal strategy of interaction with the customs authorities in the customs clearance stage;

• Drafting the package of documents and a reply to query of the customs authority;

• Preparing an application and a dossier to the customs authority and/or commercial (arbitration) court on disputing the commodity classification;

• Legal contacts with the customs authority or the commercial (arbitration) court during request for arbitration;

• Appealing from the resolution after proceedings in the application;

• Representing corporate interests during proceedings in the application;

4. Refunding of overpaid (overcharged) tax fees:

• Advising on powers of customs authorities in assessing and charging the tax fees;

• Elaborating a legal strategy of interaction with the customs authorities in the customs clearance stage;

• Preparing an application and a dossier to the customs authority and/or commercial (arbitration) court on disputing the overpaid customs fees;

• Legal contacts with the customs authority or the commercial (arbitration) court during request for arbitration;

• Appealing from the resolution after proceedings in the application;

• Representing corporate interests during proceedings in the application;

• Disputing the customs inspection results;

• Appealing from resolutions of customs bodies at competent authorities;

• Appealing from administrative punishment with competent authorities.

• Disputing the customs inspection results;

• Appealing from resolutions of customs bodies at competent authorities;

• Appealing from administrative punishment with competent authorities.

The FEA comprehensive audit embraces a set of actions intended to identify the FEA-induced risks.

The audit will enable to discover the manufacturing, financial, commercial documents that prove the tax law infringements, how they are intertwined, enabling a conclusion about the potential and methods of minimizing the risk of the Russian customs authorities spotting an infringement.

The audit will result in an opinion and recommendations to minimize the identified risks.

The audit is done by the ways and methods utilized by the customs bodies of the FTS of Russia and governed by the applicable law.

The audit is possible in the following areas:

1. General FEA audit:

• Identifying the risks for compliance with the applicable tax law:

• The documented non-verified customs value of commodities;
• Non-declared incomes to be included into the customs value, such as the shipping costs, license fees, other expenses;
• Erroneously declared methods of calculating the customs value of commodities;
• Unreliable commodity classification;
• Failure to comply with the existing technical regulation requirements, bans, and restrictions;
• Failure to declare the commodities;
• Failure to comply with the use and/or disposal rules for conditionally released commodities;
• Failure to comply with the conditions of using the goods pursuant to the customs procedures.

• Advising on observance of the existing laws, i. e. proof of legality for export and import transactions;
• Determining the completeness, timeliness, and credibility of recognizing transactions in the ledgers, as required by the civil, currency, accounting, and tax laws;
• Compliance with the requirements for company inclusion into the list of authorized economic operators.

2. Due diligence of the client’s existing contractual system:

• Verifying proper execution of documents, revealing inaccuracies with inambiguous interpretation;

• Verifying the legitimacy of contracts, evaluating the risks of terminating or contesting such by the counterparties or third parties;

• Checking the fiscal transparency of the contractual system, proper transition of the contractual terms and conditions in the bookkeeping and tax accounting;

• Verifying the required contractual terms and conditions to identify the need for having them reconciled with the government agencies, the competition authority, and currency controls;

• Analyzing the nomenclature of commodities supplied;

• Determining the product line groups;

• Establishing the nomenclature depth for each product line group;

• Allocating and analyzing the groups that are subject to mandatory certification;

• The completed audit serves as a basis for export opinion on the client’s existing contractual system.

3. Due diligence of the client’s existing certification system:

• Analyzing the certification schemes in use;

• Determining compliance of the schemes utilized with the applicable law, including technical regulations, with compliance check for OKP (All-Russian Product Classifier) and FEACN ()ТН ВЭД;

• Identifying potential variability in applying the certification schemes;

• Identifying potential infringements or nonconformities in application of certification schemes, determining the criticality of discovered infringements or nonconformities;

• Comprehensive expert review for certificates of conformity obtained by the client;

• Systematizing the certificates of conformity received by the client over the past two years;

• Verifying proper execution of certificates of conformity on hand;

• Verifying the certificates on hand for compliance with Federal Law No. 184-FZ, “On Technical Regulation,” to the extent of their inclusion into the Unified Register of Certificates of Conformity;

• Discovering the certificates of conformity that are absent from the Unified Register;

• Discovering discrepancies in the certificates of conformity presented by the client and data from the Unified Register of Certificates of Conformity;

• Expert review of the discovered certificates to validate their authenticity or signs of falsification;

• In the audit follow-up: preparing an expert opinion about efficiency of the client’s existing certification system. Elaborating and issuing to the client detailed recommendations on how to improve or optimize the existing certification system;

• In the expert review follow-up: preparing an expert opinion on the status of the client’s existing certificates of compliance. Elaborating and issuing to the client detailed recommendations on actions required to remedy the breaches;

• During due diligence of the client’s certification system, the experts also evaluate the available court awards, remedial action orders from supervisory authorities in order to comply with the applicable laws, materials of administrative and criminal cases in the field under review;

• In the due diligence follow-up, the client receives a comprehensive expert opinion and recommendations for further actions with due regard for the existing compliance practices;

• The experts may also offer training or a seminar to the client to enhance the proficiency of client employees in the field.