Zelenskyy signed law on criminal liability for smuggling
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Draft Law No. 5420 criminalizing smuggling, imposing fines and imprisonment depending on the value of smuggled goods, which will come into force in July 2024. The law is part of the requirements for receiving macro-financial assistance from the European Union.
This is evidenced by the data in the document card on the parliament's website, Censor.NET reports.
Parliament passed the draft law on December 9. Criminal liability for smuggling of excisable goods will come into force on January 1, 2024, and for smuggling of all other goods - on July 1, 2024.
The law introduces thresholds for criminal liability:
- under Article 2013 ("Smuggling of Goods") - committed in a significant amount - if the total value of the smuggled goods exceeds UAH 6.71 million or more, in a large amount - UAH 26.84 million or more;
- under Article 2014 ("Smuggling of excisable goods") - committed in a significant amount - if the total value of the smuggled goods (except for electricity) exceeds UAH 1 million or more, in a large amount - UAH 2 million or more.
Starting from July 1, 2024, criminal liability for smuggling of goods worth UAH 7.57 to 15.14 million in the form of a fine of UAH 170 to 425,000; over UAH 15.14 million, liability ranging from a fine of UAH 850,000 to 11 years' imprisonment with confiscation of property.
For excisable goods worth UAH 1.136 million to UAH 2.271 million, the sanction will be from a fine of UAH 340,000 to 6 years in prison, and for goods worth more than UAH 2.271 million - from a fine of UAH 1.275 million to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The adoption of the draft law is a requirement for receiving macro-financial assistance from the European Union worth EUR 1.5 billion in 2023.
People's Deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak noted that at the last minute before the vote, the parliament managed to make the amendments insisted on by the business:
- the thresholds for smuggling of goods are proposed to be raised fivefold;
- the thresholds for excisable goods are to be raised twofold;
- the entry into force of the law on commodity smuggling is postponed until mid-2024 (this is the IMF deadline for the reboot of the Bureau of Economic Security);
- numerous business insistences on specifying the intentional form of guilt, which is the only way to qualify actions as a crime, have been taken into account;
- significantly limited the possible cases of prosecution under "smuggling" articles for submitting documents with false information. In the amended version, they must be the basis for the movement of goods, be subject to mandatory declaration in accordance with customs legislation, and have an impact on the determination of the amount of customs payments or compliance with non-tariff regulation measures.
