“Customs Audit” Direction: Implementation for the Purpose of Electronic Customs Development

Development of electronic customs is currently a relevant area of work for both the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia. It relates to the introduction of a “single window” mechanism, one of the blocks of which is electronic customs. The need of customs audit implementation in the work of customs services in the EAEU countries emphasizes its development being part of the block of electronic customs. However, the introduction of customs audit is restrained by uncertainty in its understanding. The article analyses the existing customs audit application practice for customs control of goods abroad. It is determined that in all researched countries customs audit is understood as a form of customs control. In the study, the authors develop possible approaches to implementation of customs audit in the activities of the Russian Federal Customs Service, namely a form of customs control (based on the experience of foreign countries), a subject type of business activity, and a special type of state control. Possible negative consequences of customs audit introduction in each case are analyzed. In addition, the authors prove that introducing a new form of customs control (customs audit) would be inexpedient. The results of the experiment on customs audit application conducted by the FCS of Russia are also analyzed in the article. The analysis reveals a lack of considerable positive results confirming the validity of introduction of customs audit as a business activity. The authors establish that the best decision at the moment would be the creation of a separate public authority engaged in customs audit. This would allow the workload of customs authorities in goods post-clearance control to be redistributed, and would ensure a wide use of authentic audit reports made by officials in categorizing the participants of foreign trade activities and granting them various simplifications and preferences. It would also expand the necessary cooperation between authorities and participants of foreign trade activities, realizing the principles of the single window system, and could eventually help replace the desk customs inspection.