The new Customs Code of Moldova was adopted by parliament in the final, third reading, and will take effect on January 1, 2023.
The adoption of the new Customs Code is conditioned by the obligations assumed by our country when signing the Association Agreement and the European Union. The new Customs Code is intended to systematize the customs legislation of Moldova, which includes the current Customs Code, the Law on Customs Tariffs and the Law on the import and export of goods from the territory of Moldova by individuals. The new Customs Code contains 11 titles, each of which is divided into chapters, and they are into sections. It should be noted that the first Customs Code of Moldova was adopted in 1993, and in 2000 a new Customs Code was adopted, as well as the Law on Service in the Customs Authorities. The development of the national and international economy, external competition determined the need for new customs concepts. In accordance with Art. 71 of the Parliament Regulations, final reading is mandatory for projects of complex laws and codes. As previously reported, within the framework of the second reading of the new Customs Code, the parliament, at the initiative of the government, approved a number of important amendments to it. They provide, among other things, that by the end of 2022, duty-free shops located on the land borders of Moldova will lose the status of duty-free shops. The new Customs Code is in line with EU legislation, which provides for the possibility of opening duty-free shops only at airports, ports, on boards of aircraft and ships. Some duty-free shops in the border area will cease operations after the license expires (December 22, 2022). The possibility of placing goods in the FEZ in the active processing mode will also be excluded. This is due to the fact that the concept of special customs regimes is completely changed in the new Customs Code, and the FEZ regime will be included in the customs regime for special warehousing. The bill clarifies some concepts ("customs supervision", "customs decision", "declaration of origin", "exporter", "notice of re-export", etc.). The draft specifies that the exchange rate used for customs purposes is the exchange rate established by the NBM at the time the customs debt arises. The conditions for the destruction of goods that violate intellectual property rights are simplified, and the period during which the rightholder is obliged to destroy goods that violate intellectual property rights has been increased from 1 to 3 years. In order to improve the provisions of the draft law, there were proposed amendments aimed at ensuring equal conditions and clarifying customs rules: reducing the maximum amount of the fine in case of non-declaration of goods - to 25 thousand lei instead of 40 thousand lei, clarification of the conceptual apparatus under the article "Law-Obedience" etc. // 24.08.2021- InfoMarket.
