7th Symposium of Lawyers - Bagzhan Zhakupov 1

“Diversity of controls and sanctions in goods road transport: helping your hauliers through the maze of unharmonised applications”

Bagzhan ZHAKUPOV

Director of Training Certification Centre, KAZATO, Kazakhstan

National system of inspections and sanctions for infringement of the rules for exporting and importing goods into/from the customs territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In accordance with the resolution passed by the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 8th September 2000 No1358 “governing the creation of a single national system of inspections for transport within the Republic of Kazakhstan” (with the modifications made by the resolution passed by the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 27.02.2004 No238) a list of unique checkpoints at the country’s national borders was ratified, the checkpoints being intended for the international road network, a “Directive regarding cooperation and coordination of actions by inspection bodies at border crossing points of the Republic of Kazakhstan” was ratified by the joint orders of inspection bodies, as well as removing the stopping points on major domestic roads, with the exception of checkpoints manned by national transport inspection bodies.

By means of the resolution passed by the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 23rd October 2007 No992 “Governing certain questions of organisation relating to activities at checkpoints on the national borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, the Customs Inspection Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan is defined by the body that monitors actions by transport, veterinary, phytosanitary and health inspection and quarantine bodies, relating to the transportation of goods and vehicles across the national border of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

By means of the new joint order from the inspection bodies, the corresponding modifications and deferrals were made to the aforementioned directive, according to which coordination of actions, inspections for compliance with the operational system by all the inspection bodies, with the exception of border crossing units, at border crossing checkpoints, are the responsibility of the customs authority based at the checkpoint.

At crossing points on the national borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan, all inspection bodies must be housed in the building belonging to the customs authorities prior to the construction of a single border crossing checkpoint. Inspections of vehicles crossing the national border of the Republic of Kazakhstan are carried out by the inspection bodies at the crossing point in accordance with the principle of a “single stop” and a “single office”.

When a vehicle enters the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a new format national inspection docket is issued in duplicate in the required form. When the vehicle leaves the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan a docket is issued by the customs authorities. At the end of an inspection, one of the dockets is retained by the customs authorities at the crossing point. The customs authorities are responsible for drawing up, recording and retaining these dockets.

Once the border control department has added a note to the docket, the carrier presents the transport documents for the goods, the vehicle and the docket to the customs official for registration and a customs inspection. The documents are then passed on to the following inspection bodies. When checking documents, officials from the inspection bodies note on the docket the time at which the inspection began and ended. An unwarranted extension of this time is not allowed for any type of state inspection. The time taken should correspond exactly to the time needed to carry out this type of inspection

At crossing points where there is no transport inspection checkpoint, the customs official notes the lack of this type of inspection on the docket. In this case, a transport inspection is carried out outside the border crossing point at the first internal transport checkpoint.

At the end of the document check and formalisation, the customs official organises a joint inspection of the vehicle and the goods, and where necessary, a customs inspection is carried out and a joint document completed in duplicate. In the event that the vehicle and the goods are returned outside the borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a decision is taken in coordination with all the inspection bodies, and a joint return document is drawn up in duplicate.

In the event of infringements by carriers of international agreements and the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the inspection body that discovers the infringement informs the other inspection bodies, notes this on the docket and in the registers of vehicle entries and inspections and undertakes measures designed to bring an official prosecution against the guilty parties in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan governing administrative offences comprises the administrative offence laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Individuals and corporate bodies, both foreign and domestic, are subject to the general principles of administrative liability.

A person is not subject to official prosecution after a period of two months from the time at which the infringement was committed.

Administrative offence enquiries examine and impose official fines on behalf of inspection bodies: the chairmen of the Customs Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Transport Inspection Committee of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Inspection Committee for agro-industrial complexes of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, The National health and safety and epidemiology inspection committee of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Director of the borders department of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and their deputies, the heads of regional departments, authorities, inspections, units and their deputies, for all articles of legislation governing administrative offences within the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as authorised officials at border crossing checkpoints (heads of departments and inspectors) in accordance with the corresponding articles of administrative offence law of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

An administrative offence enquiry is deemed to be opened from the moment an administrative offence report is drawn up.
Administrative offence reports are drawn up by officials authorised to do so. Reports are not drawn up in cases where the fine does not exceed one monthly assessment indicator or if the fine is imposed and collected by a person authorised to do so in the place where the infringement was committed, the offender also receiving a receipt in a specified format.

In the event of administrative offences, officials from inspection bodies may apply the following official collection measures: written notifications, official fines, confiscation of goods and vehicles forming the direct subject of an administrative offence, suspension of licences, special authorisations and certificates for a period of six months maximum.

Fines imposed on individuals may not be less than one tenth and more than two hundred monthly assessment indicators.

Fines imposed on corporate bodies may not be less than twenty and more than two thousand monthly assessment indicators.

An administrative offence report must be sent, within 24 hours, for examination by the body (official) authorised to examine administrative offence enquiries. Having examined the administrative offence enquiry, the official issues a resolution to enforce an official collection, stop the enquiry or refer the enquiry to a court for a hearing.

An administrative offence enquiry resolution may form the subject of an appeal to a higher authorised body. An appeal or protest against an administrative offence enquiry resolution is submitted to a higher body or a court within ten days of the day on which a copy of the resolution was issued to the person in question. An appeal or protest against an administrative offence resolution must be heard within ten days following its receipt.

The following paragraphs give examples of the penalties for various administrative offences:

As regards customs related matters.
A failure to notify or an incorrect notification when importing or exporting goods and vehicles, a failure to stop a vehicle when crossing the customs frontier of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the places defined by the customs authorities, concealing goods from a customs inspector, these goods being transported across the customs frontier, with, among other offences, the use of hiding-places, transporting goods and vehicles with fraudulent use of documents or means of identification – are subject to a fine of between 10 and 25 monthly assessment indicators with the confiscation of goods and vehicles directly forming the subject of an administrative offence or without confiscation.
As regards transport inspections.
Infringement of the rules governing the transportation of people, luggage and goods in vehicles, engaging in the international transportation of passengers, luggage and goods without authorisations or without special authorisations, the operation of vehicles without tachographs, without recording registration forms, other infringements of the system of working hours and breaks by drivers, involvement in coastal transport, infringement by drivers of the rules for operating vehicles – result in a fine of between five and fifty monthly assessment indicators.
As regards quarantine and veterinary inspections.
Importing and exporting vegetable matter that has not been subject to a quarantine inspection and the corresponding procedures, transporting these items without the corresponding documents, a failure to comply with the veterinary and health and safety rules and standards when transporting goods subject to veterinary inspections – result in a fine of between twenty and one hundred monthly assessment indicators with the confiscation of the products or without confiscation.
As regards the established procedure for crossing the national borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The fact that a transport organisation engaging in international transport has not taken measures to prevent the illegal entry of people into a vehicle and its use for illegally crossing the national border of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has led to the illegal crossing or an attempt to illegally cross the border by one or more offenders, results in a fine of between two hundred and five hundred monthly assessment indicators.
As regards the health and safety and epidemiological well-being of the population.
The infringement of normative legal instruments governing the health and safety and epidemiological well-being of the population, which may result in harm to the health of human beings, where this legislation does not contain items that are punishable in accordance with criminal law, results in a fine of between two hundred and two thousand monthly assessment indicators.

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