Belarus’ customs to raise money on lavatory pans and gas ovens

The European Radio for Belarus brings you the comparison of how the custom duties are to change in 60 days when the president’s decree on preferential custom clearance of goods for personal use comes into force. The decree regulates the shipment of household goods by tourists across the Belarusian border.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to get a clue of what the new preferences are all about from the document released for the press. The state-run newspapers and television reported only the pleasant news that no duties would be levied on the shipment of vacuum-cleaners and video players any longer. The other good news was that 2 liters of alcohol instead of 1 liter would be allowed to cross into the country.

ERB called the customs officials in order to get the information at first hand, but Yury Bandarchuk, the chief of customs at the Zakhodni Buh border crossing point in Brest, was unable to elucidate on this matter.

“We have just received the document. We are now in the process of studying it,” he said.

It is rather difficult for someone who is strange to the shopping tourism to understand anything regarding the future preferences. That’s why the European Radio for Belarus has simply compared the existing custom duties with those that will be introduced in two months.

The biggest news is that citizens will be allowed to move 15 kg of personal luggage less. Presently, 50 kg can be brought into this country without a fee. Only 5 kg of foodstuffs will be allowed duty-free, a provision that remains unchanged. If you try to import more, you will have to pay a fee of Euro2 per every extra kilogram.

The today’s custom duty for a gas oven is Euro25; Euro30 for an electrical oven; Euro10 for a kitchen machine and an air funnel. Under the new decree, you will have to pay Euro50 for ovens and Euro25 for the other devices, correspondingly. The duties for building materials will see a 50-percent growth. A 15-kg lavatory pan presently costs you the additional Euro15 at the border. Effective December 15, the duty will grow up to Euro60.

Below is the comparative table of the present and new "preferential" duties for household items.

Item	Current duty	New duty
1. Building materials	Euro2/kg	Euro4/kg
2. Gas ovens	Euro25/piece	Euro50/piece
3. Air funnels	Euro10/piece	Euro25/piece
4. Kitchen machines	Euro10/piece	Euro25/piece
5. Microwave ovens	Euro15/piece	Euro25/piece
6. Refrigerators/freezers	Euro50/piece	Euro50/piece
7. Refrigerators	Euro40/piece	Euro40/piece
8. Freezers (250 l, 900 l)	Euro40, 80/piece	Euro40, 80/piece
9. Plumbing hardware	Euro1/kg	Euro4/kg
10. Spinners (6kg, 10kg, 15kg)	Euro50, 60, 110/piece	Euro50, 60, 110/piece
11. Computer monitors 15",17",19"	Euro50, 80, 110/piece	Euro 50, 80, 110/piece
12. TV (42, 52, 72, over 72 cm)	Euro30, 30, 60, 110/piece	Euro30, 30, 60, 110/piece
13. LCD TV (43", over 43")	Euro500, 1000/piece	Euro500, 1000/piece
14. Boiler	Not on the list	Euro100/piece
15. Auto spare parts	Not on the list	Euro2/kg