Beware of Sending Gifts from Russia to Germany

The German customs have warned that due to the necessity of maintaining the sanctions regime, they may seize Christmas gifts sent from Russia to Germany. This was reported by TASS.

The agency recalled Regulation No. 833/2014 adopted by the EU Council on July 31, 2014. "As a result, the import of various products from Russia is prohibited. This includes products that can typically be included in gift packages, such as wooden items, stones and precious metals, tobacco, plastic, and chemical products, including finished chemical products like cosmetics," the customs stated. Even books and toys can be held at border control points.

At the same time, the customs emphasized that there are no exceptions related to the prohibition of gifts sent by individual persons contained in the annex of the sanctions regulations. "Goods falling under the sanctions may be subject to seizure, meaning they can be confiscated," officials warned.

In 2023, separate cases of confiscation of vehicles temporarily imported from Russia registered to Russian citizens for personal or transit purposes have been recorded by customs authorities in Germany. According to the EU Council regulation on restrictive measures related to Russia's actions aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, the import and sale of a number of products, including vehicles, into the territory of EU countries is prohibited. The German customs service interprets "import" as any physical movement of goods within the EU territory, meaning not only for sale purposes.