According to Article 19 of the Customs Code of the Republic of Belarus, all persons have the right to import goods and vehicles into and export from the Republic of Belarus on equal terms. No one may be deprived or restricted in this right, except in cases stipulated by the Customs Code and other legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus.
Goods under customs control may be transported across the customs border, and persons interested in such transport may be authorised to use them provided that customs clearance of such goods is carried out in the manner prescribed by the Customs Code of the Republic of Belarus and other legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus, including the normative acts of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
The obligation to present goods for customs clearance is imposed on persons owning or holding goods imported into or exported from the customs territory of the Republic of Belarus.
Customs clearance of goods is carried out by officials of the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus and consists in issuing the person concerned with a permit from the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus to move the goods under customs control across the customs border or to carry out other actions with the goods in accordance with one of the customs regimes of the Customs Code of the Republic of Belarus.
Customs clearance shall be carried out at the place designated for this purpose in the area of activity of the customs agency of the Republic of Belarus where the consignor or consignee of the goods or their structural subdivision is located, and during the working hours of the customs agency of the Republic of Belarus established by the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
At the request of the person concerned, at his/her own expense and with the permission of the Customs Agency of the Republic of Belarus, customs clearance may be carried out in other places and outside the working hours of the Customs Agency of the Republic of Belarus.
When goods and means of transport are imported into the customs territory of the Republic of Belarus and when they are exported from this territory, the following documents shall be submitted to the customs authorities of the Republic of Belarus for customs clearance:
- agreement (contract);
- customs declaration, drawn up in the form of customs cargo declaration forms;
- payment documents confirming payment of the customs dues due;
- permits (licences) from export and import control agencies, in cases determined by law;
- customs declaration of the “Transaction Passport” type, in the cases provided for by the law;
- shipping documents;
- invoice (invoice, account-proforma, proforma-invoice);
- certificate of origin;
- other documents.
This list and the procedure for filling in the documents for customs control are determined by the Order of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus № 246-OD of July 9, 1998 “On the approval of the Regulation on the customs document ‘Declaration Customs cargo’ and the Instruction on the procedure for completing the customs cargo declaration for the customs declaration of goods”.
