Effective beginning with January 2023, a new iteration of the Customs Code has passed final vote today. The new provisions derive from commitments assumed by Moldova with the signing of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement and has also been one of the obligations under the Agreement on the European Union’s Macro-Financial Assistance.

The document will improve the quality of services provided by the Customs Service to business entities, will increase data protection, will reduce the costs and delays related to the declaration of goods and will diminish the risks of fraud and corruption through the online monitoring of customs operations and the reduction of the paper-based procedures.

It also contains provisions on immediate and longer-term facilitation for businesses such as: centralized customs clearance, elimination of tax or fees for customs procedures, deferment of the payment of customs duty and other import taxes, reduction of the number of customs procedures and their reorganization, Authorized Economic Operators etc. The new Code will also provide economic operators with the possibility to be informed in advance about customs decisions, thus enabling them to respond before a final customs decision is made.

Notably, the new Code allows the operation of duty-free shops only in airports, ports, on board aircraft and ships. This means some duty-free shops located on the border will have to close down after their licenses expire in December 2022.

The document provides for the application of state guarantees for economic operators registered until the date of entry into force of the Customs Code in the free economic zones, the Free International Port Giurgiulesti and the International Free Airport Marculesti, in accordance with the provisions governing those areas. The respective guarantees will be extended to the economic operators that will be registered between January 1, 2023 - September 1, 2024.

The first Customs Code was adopted in 1993. The new one replaces the 2000 version of the Code.