Trade facilitation and the regulatory environment in Russia

The Russian government has already introduced some advanced trade facilitation (TF) measures, following the experience of developed countries. However, there have been no serious attempts made yet to conduct a comprehensive study of the TF environment to show a whole picture of the issue in Russia and identify the bottlenecks in its development path. This study centers on the following three questions. First, what is the current status of TF in Russia? Second, what is the regulatory environment where TF is found? Third, what policy implications can we derive from the study? To this end, this study examines the processes connected with the importation, exportation and transit of goods in Russia. It also evaluates TF-related policies, regulations, and the challenges ahead for Russia, and finally suggests some policy recommendations for the Russian government. As part of the UNESCAP TF unit, we adopted the expert survey approach to collect the data because this method is particularly useful in providing some independent assessment on complex, technical and specialized issues for which data is not readily available. Our in-depth investigation finds that the de facto implementation of many general measures is lagging far behind the legislation. In practice, it is not clear for traders how some regulations and processes work for them, or how easily those measures can be applied to their transactions. Bureaucracy and corruption remain very harmful factors, entailing higher trade costs in Russia. The most serious challenges faced by Russia in implementing TF measures are indicated as the lack of coordination between government agencies and the deficiency of political will. It is possible that local government agencies can start to undertake local initiatives and promote TF, but without centralized coordination among local agencies by Moscow, backed up by a strong political will, successful implementation of TF policies may not be achieved. Increasing the consultations with stakeholders through a national TF body, establishment of national single window, including an electronic one, and other measures such as risk management to improve the procedures and works of customs, should be prioritized in Russia.