A draft of a new resolution by the Government of the Russian Federation (ID: 167330) has been published on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts. The document introduces significant adjustments to the rules for importing products from abroad, amending subparagraphs "b" and "v" of paragraph 4, as well as paragraph 5 of Appendix No. 18 to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 353 dated March 12, 2022. The amendments are expected to enter into legal force 30 days after the official publication of the adopted document.

According to the draft text, for goods that fall under the list of exceptions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Minpromtorg) Order No. 4114, previously active customs relaxations are completely abolished.

Now, participants in foreign economic activity will be legally prohibited from:

1. Using third-party permitting documents during customs clearance without providing the originals and an official letter of authorization for the right of use from the original applicant;

2. Importing products without mandatory labeling into the country. Previously, the legislation allowed the import of "clean" (unlabeled) goods, with the subsequent application of labels at customs warehouses prior to sale.

For importers of food FMCG products (Asian beverages, groceries, confectionery), this means the need for an immediate audit of their supply chains. If the imported food products or their packaging fall into the Minpromtorg exception list, Chinese suppliers will have to apply the EAC mark and Russian-language stickers with the ingredients strictly at their factories before shipping the batch to Russia.

In addition, distributors will need to issue their own declarations of conformity in advance, as it will no longer be possible to legally "borrow" someone else's certificates without documented permission from the right holder.