The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law on criminalization of goods smuggling

At a session on December 9, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the second reading the draft law №5420 on the criminalization of goods smuggling.

The draft law №5420 "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on Criminalization of Smuggling of Goods and Excisable Goods, as well as False Declaration of Goods " introduces criminal liability for smuggling of goods in significant and large amounts, as well as for false declaration of goods (in particular, committed by prior conspiracy with a customs official). The implementation of such provisions is one of the conditions for receiving the last financial assistance from the EU this year in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion.

The law was adopted with changes and amendments in accordance with the letters of the Ministry of Finance, which the business had insisted on, namely:

• limit for criminal liability for goods smuggling was increased to UAH 6 million (by 5 times);
• limit for criminal liability for smuggling of excisable goods was raised up to UAH 1.3 million (by 2 times);
• obligatory specifying the intentional form of guilt, which is the only way to qualify actions as a crime (it has been taken into account after numerous business insistences);
• significantly limited possible cases of criminal liability for submitting documents with false information (in the amended version, such documents must be the basis for the movement of goods and the subject to mandatory declaration).

Criminal liability will be introduced in stages: liability for smuggling of excisable goods may be applied from January 1, 2024, and for all other goods - from July 1, 2024.