KROLEVETSKYI
and partners

The client is a legal entity which has long been trading in high-quality imported equipment for agricultural enterprises.

Having found a reliable supplier in the United Arab Emirates, the Client entered into a supply contract with him and started working.

The business was looking well batch after batch. But suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, the Nikolaev customs says: «The cost of this equipment seems to be underestimated.
If we meter such equipment and weigh it, it turns out that its average price per meter or kilogram is higher.

The questions “Why is the equipment to be metered or weighed to determine the price?”, “And why did the same equipment at the same price yesterday successfully pass the Odessa customs?” have not been answered and the consultations with the customs were fruitless.

Therefore, the customs rendered a decision to adjust the customs value, thus the customs value of the equipment was tripled, and accordingly, the customs duties for its customs clearance should be paid three times as much.

While all this was going on, the delivery vehicles could not move anywhere, the standing and storage fee was charging extra and the buyers anxiously were awaiting their delayed goods. The Client has withdrawn money from his deposit account in order to pay the outrageous customs payment.

Thereafter, the adjustment decision was appealed to the court, where the lawyer of our company proved that the documents submitted with the customs declaration were sufficient to recognize the reasonable customs value at the contract price (as it was done by the Client).

Herein the customs required odd documents, as well as documents that do not affect the customs value in this case. Besides, the customs could not substantiate why they start weighing the irrigation system and how they calculated the customs value defined in their decision.

As the result, the illegal customs decision was overturned by the court. The decision has already come into force and the Client and we are preparing for a new process – recovery of damages caused by improper decision.