The State Revenue Service (VID) uncovered more than 400 cases when individuals attempted to breach the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, as reported by VID director general Ieva Jaunzeme.
She said more than a dozen criminal procedures have been started over the uncovered cases so far.
According to Jaunzeme, most of those cases involve embargoed goods.
This applies to household appliances worth more than EUR 300.
VID director general said most violations of sanctions involve falsification of contracts, because there are exceptions under which it is allowed to import goods. One such exception is when supply contracts were signed before sanctions were imposed.
Another problem outlined by all EU customs services is that customs control is based on codes of goods, but in the first package of sanctions detailed lists of goods, not their codes. VID specialists together with Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine codes for those goods. Jaunzeme stressed that this was a lot of work.
Jaunzeme admits the number of violations is gradually going down. However, VID cannot afford to relax.
When asked who are the biggest violators of sanctions – Latvian companies or Russia and Belarusian suppliers, Jaunzeme said this is not an easy thing to say, as the chain is long – client, suppliers, carrier, loader.
«Truckers don’t know if the goods they carry are or are not under sanctions. In such cases the responsibility is on suppliers and delivery companies, which hope, it seems, that the cargo won’t be noticed by authorities,» said Jaunzeme.
When asked if the war in Ukraine and sanctions have had an effect on smuggling so far, Jaunzeme admitted that life is difficult for smugglers because there is more control now. She said the situation has changed somewhat – contraband goods are not uncovered every day any more.
«However, now we have a different situation. During the pandemic there was no passenger transport from Russia or Belarus. Now Belarus has adopted a visa-free regime and people have started travelling to Belarus in droves. This is why, if we look at the workload of customs services, making sure every person does not carry one vodka bottle over the limit requires more resources than regular inspection of cargo vehicles. There is more work now. On top of that, we have to monitor to make sure residents do not import embargoed goods. All this eats away our capacity,» said Jaunzeme.
She added that there will always be people willing to play ‘Russian roulette’ and try to make money by taking risks.
Currently there is a market niche, because goods are brought in. However, carriers registered in Russia and Belarus are unable to carry them. «There were some local carriers that went despite our warnings that their partners are unpredictable and that we cannot guarantee they will be able to return or how long they will have to spend waiting in queues,» added Jaunzeme.