Electronics

According to Russian media reports, at the request of the National Association of Computer Equipment and Electronic Product Manufacturers, the General Administration of Customs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Digital Development are discussing the possibility of restricting external access to customs data.

According to the report, information about the transportation and delivery of equipment to the Russian Federation has been analyzed and hyped by some overseas media, posing a threat of sanctions to foreign companies that continue to cooperate with Russia. To address this issue, the Chamber of Commerce recommends encrypting customs data.

According to insiders, in late April, the General Administration of Customs of the Russian Federation held a meeting with the participation of the Ministry of Digital Development, large electronic distributors, and professional associations. Discussed the issue of the leakage of raw customs statistical data to foreign media. Especially in mid February, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from the Federal Customs Service, that Cisco equipment in the United States was still being shipped to the Russian Federation one year after the sanctions were imposed. Previously, the magazine also cited customs data as reporting that Chinese companies continue to supply technical equipment to Russia.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, customs suspended the release of customs data to avoid "incorrect estimates, speculations, and inconsistencies". However, in February 2023, the department began to release import and export data for the Russian Federation for 2022.

The report pointed out that distributors can directly obtain the main customs data from the department, which is the electronic copy of the goods declaration form generated by the unified automated information system during the customs clearance and supervision process, making it difficult to avoid leakage. A conversationalist familiar with the meeting details explained that importers need to use this data to set prices and plan procurement.

However, stakeholders have requested that some importers' customs declarations be placed in an encrypted part of the database, and experts have proposed encrypting data for specific product codes.