Andrey Eduardovich Bernev — customs lawyer, foreign trade and customs disputes
When customs has contacted you
A request or decision from Russian customs
The response depends on what customs has issued. I read requests, inspection reports, decisions and formal procedural records in full, including their attachments, and check receipt details and earlier replies before assessing the available action and timing.
Begin by identifying the document, when you received it and any approaching deadline. We can then agree a review to establish what your team can handle, which records are needed and whether further legal work is required. The scope, timing and fee are agreed separately.
- DocumentComplete text and attachments
- ReceiptDate and method of delivery
- CorrespondenceEarlier submissions
- Next actionResponse, objections or appeal
Your situation
Choose a similar situation
Each page explains which records matter, what timing questions to check and what options may be available at that stage.
Reviewing customs documents
The first step is to identify the document and what has already happened
The opening page rarely provides enough detail. Attachments, receipt information and earlier correspondence help establish the current stage, including whether further material should be submitted or a decision needs to be challenged.
- 01
What has customs issued?
A request sets out questions; an inspection report records findings; a decision states what the authority has decided. I identify the document and examine its attachments before considering its consequences.
- 02
What starts the time limit?
I check the document's date, how it was delivered and the event relevant to calculating the time limit. The issue date and the date of receipt may differ; neither should be assumed to be the starting point without checking.
- 03
Which fact needs support?
I match customs' questions to the declaration, contract, payments and earlier responses to identify the specific evidence needed, rather than request the entire transaction file without distinction.
- 04
What action is appropriate now?
The review informs the proposed work: obtaining missing information, providing explanations, submitting objections or preparing an appeal against an existing decision.
Before sending a response
Account for differences from earlier submissions
Customs can compare an explanation with the contract, payments, declaration and the company's earlier account. An unexplained difference may raise further questions, even where it began as a drafting error.
- 01
Build a shipment timeline
Arrange the contract, declaration, payments, transport records and correspondence by date. The sequence helps locate a discrepancy and identify who can explain it.
- 02
Address each question separately
For each answer, identify the supporting document and page. A file of attachments without that explanation does not show how the evidence answers the question.
- 03
Explain when and why a document changed
Keep the earlier version and record the actual date of any revision. The explanation should reflect the correspondence and the events in the transaction, rather than leave the reader to infer why the change was made.
Check before sending
- 1
Does the draft address every customs question?
- 2
Are figures, dates and goods descriptions consistent, with any differences explained?
- 3
Is each factual statement supported by an identifiable record?
- 4
Have you retained the submitted documents, submission date and evidence of receipt?
How the work is agreed
Agree the work
one stage at a time
After reviewing the document, I identify the proposed first assignment. A response, an appeal and court proceedings are not treated as one automatic package. Any further stage is discussed separately when there is a reason to proceed.
- 01Review
Review the document and timing
I examine the complete document and attachments, check receipt details and read the earlier correspondence. The review identifies the immediate task and the supporting records needed for it.
Written assessment and recommended action - 02Document
Prepare a response or objections
I draft the submission required at the current stage and connect its factual statements to supporting evidence. Where the agreed assignment is limited to that document, completing it concludes the work.
A completed submission for the current stage - 03Appeal
Challenge a customs decision
I examine the reasons given, the procedure followed and the material available to customs. The challenge identifies the particular decision, action or failure to act in dispute.
An appeal against the specified decision - 04Court
Proceedings in Russian commercial courts
Court work begins once we have separately agreed the position to be advanced, the relevant records, the court stage, the timetable and the fee.
Representation at the agreed court stage
For each stage, the task, scope of work, timing and fee are agreed before work begins.
Published case analysis
Read the court decisions and case commentary before making contact
The case section sets out case references, the dispute, relevant records, the parties' arguments and the outcome. Another case does not predict the result of yours, but it can show how a court examined particular facts and evidence.
Browse all cases- Case and courtidentified in the analysis
- Documentsrecords examined by the court
- Outcomereported for each case
- 03Customs transit and restrictions
Customs authority decision on a transit shipment held unlawful
The dispute concerned a customs authority decision dated 10 August 2018 on a shipment weighing 20,523 kg. The Russian Supreme Court set aside the rulings of three lower courts and held the customs decision unlawful.
Customs authority decision held unlawful → - 04Customs transit and restrictions
Trucks stopped in transit: case А09-3715/2019
The court examined the customs transit procedure, consignee, delivery location and cargo documents against Russia's special economic measures applicable at the time.
Four customs decisions held unlawful →
Inside the full analysis
- 01The events and document that gave rise to the dispute
- 02The evidence examined by the court
- 03The parties' arguments and the court's reasoning
- 04The outcome and procedural stage
04 / New rules and documents
Regulatory changes and the shipments they affect
Each article examines a practical question: what has changed, when the rule takes effect, which shipments it concerns and which records need attention.
Your first message
Name the document
and say when you received it
Describe what happened, any deadline stated in the document and what you have already submitted. There is no need to send the entire file before an initial conversation.
DeadlineI check the relevant starting date
ResourcesI identify the records needed first
ScopeI propose a specific initial assignment
Choose a contact channel
Yandex Messenger
Phone number for contact in the app.
imo
Phone number for contact in the app.
Before sharing sensitive records, agree which documents are needed and which communication channel to use.The initial discussion does not include drafting a procedural document or preparing a full legal opinion. Those are separate assignments.