Once Russia has entered the Customs Union, some changes were made in the current customs law regarding the shipping of express parcels. Each parcel now has to be declared individually using a passenger declaration, which means the receiver’s passport details must be provided. The new rules also state that the receiver of the parcel or a customs broker might have to be personally present at the customs, which certainly slows down the customs traffic.

In addition, the new customs code modifies some limitations that were earlier used at the Russian border. It is now possible to import up to 50kg of goods worth up to ?1,500 from abroad without any duties. Before the changes, Russian citizens coming home could only take up to 35kg of goods worth up to 65,000 RUR from abroad with them. Now if one wishes to import more than 50kg of goods to Russia, a 30% duty must be paid, with the minimum set at ?4 per 1 kg.

In the meantime, Russian express postage companies confirm that they are struggling with a number of problems. Parcels worth up to ?1,000 or $1,200 can be imported duty-free; before the new rules came into effect on July 1, 2010, the limit was set at 10,000 RUR or $3,000, while anything worth less than 5,000 RUR or $167 could be imported without any customs declarations. Starting July, each and every parcel has to be declared under a passenger declaration. The same applies to express parcels as well. Prior to the introduction of the new rules, express parcels worth up to ?200 or $240 could be processed under a simple list of contents. Now all of them need a passenger declaration with the receiver’s passport details.