Business

Checks and checks and checks: post-clearance control has proven its right to exist

Customs has completed a pilot project on post-clearance control. This was reported by the State Customs Service, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.

The project lasted from November 1, 2023, to April 18, 2025, and covered 3,902 customs clearances of import/export of goods.

What does post-clearance control involve?

During the post-clearance control, the customs could request documents that were not submitted for customs clearance but contain information that allows verifying the data declared in the customs declaration.

The main areas of post-clearance control are:

– control over the correctness of the tax base;

– control over the correct classification of goods in accordance with the UKTZED;

– control over the determination of the country of production of goods;

– control over the provision of tax benefits, full and periodic payment of customs duties;

– control over the reliability of the declaration of weight, quality, technical, physical and chemical characteristics of goods that affect the level of taxation;

– control over compliance with the requirements of customs regimes;

– control over compliance by foreign economic operators with the provisions of legislation on non-tariff regulation.

Post-clearance control is not carried out for all customs clearances, but is based on the results of the risk management system. The results of post-clearance control are taken into account by the risk management system when selecting companies for further documentary inspections.

What are the results of the project?

Out of 3902 customs declarations covered by post-clearance control, violations/inconsistencies were found in 2810 (72% of the total number of customs declarations for which post-clearance control was initiated).

Following the respective notifications from customs, the declarants voluntarily paid UAH 96 million in additional customs payments to the state budget.

In addition, the information obtained during post-clearance control became the basis for 24 documentary audits by customs, which resulted in UAH 14 million of tax liabilities.

During the implementation of the Pilot Project, customs audit officials developed a mechanism for conducting pre-audit analysis in preparation for a transactional audit, and applied the practice of informing taxpayers about identified violations before the start of a documentary audit, which allows them to correct the identified deficiencies without penalties.

What’s next for customs control

The State Customs Service reported that the results of the Pilot Project were taken into account when implementing the provisions of Article 344-1 of the Customs Code of Ukraine. And this article, which regulates post-clearance control, came into force on April 19, 2025. This is stipulated by the Law “On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine regarding the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Customs Code of the European Union” dated 22.08.2024 No. 3926-IX.

As PwC Ukraine experts explain, this Law changes the general logic of customs audit, as two concepts will be distinguished: pre-check analysis and documentary verification, which together will constitute post-clearance control. Also, the electronic document flow during customs audits will be significantly simplified.

Given the legislative innovations, PwC Ukraine recommends that businesses conduct a comprehensive check-up – an internal customs audit to assess the company’s operational processes and procedures in terms of customs legislation.

Experts also remind, with reference to the official data of the State Customs Service, which violations during the customs audit are the most common;

– incorrect determination of the country of origin,

– unlawful application of tax benefits for goods,

– violation of the requirements of customs regimes,

– incorrect classification of goods under the UKTZED,

– understatement of customs value.

How Ukraine’s customs system is evolving

According to PwC Ukraine experts, the Law “On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine on the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Customs Code of the European Union” No. 3926-IX provides for a number of changes to the procedure and content of the functioning of customs regimes, updated approaches to declaration, post-clearance control and protection of intellectual property rights, in particular

– placement of goods in the customs regimes of import (in terms of the end-use procedure), temporary import, processing in the customs territory, processing outside the customs territory may be carried out only with the authorization granted at the request of the company or on the basis of a customs declaration

– replacement of existing permits for companies that hold customs warehouses or temporary storage warehouses or act as customs representatives for authorization, operation of customs warehouses, temporary storage warehouses or customs brokerage activities, respectively;

– a new approach to assessing the criterion of “stable financial condition” for obtaining the AEO status, according to which the company must demonstrate that its financial condition is sufficient to fulfill its obligations, taking into account the type and scope of commercial activities, as well as the absence of negative net assets, except when they can be secured;

– introduction of the institute of “customs representation”, which provides for the right of a person authorized by another person to perform the necessary actions and customs formalities determined by the legislation of Ukraine on customs matters, and the distinction between direct and indirect customs representatives;

– regulating the procedure for declaring goods at an authorized facility under the “release at location procedure”, in particular, in terms of declaring goods by a direct and indirect customs representative;

– updating the procedure for conducting documentary on-site (scheduled or unscheduled) and off-site inspections of compliance with the requirements of Ukrainian customs legislation, including timeliness, accuracy, completeness of accrual and payment of customs duties;

– detailing the subject matter of post-clearance control, including pre-verification analysis of the correctness, accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information contained in the customs declaration, the customs clearance of which has been completed, and in the documents on the basis of which the goods are placed in the relevant customs regimes, as well as verification of the existence, authenticity, correctness and validity of any supporting document, including by checking the company’s accounts and other documentation on transactions with the relevant goods;

– expanding the possibilities of proving signs of infringement of intellectual property rights by recognizing the conclusion of the right holder on the existence of infringement of intellectual property rights on an equal footing with the conclusion of an expert examination, and also providing for the right of the right holder to participate in proceedings on cases of violation of customs rules.