Read and translate the text. Pre-reading exercise

Pre-reading exercise

Unit 1

CHARTER III Automated System for Customs Clearance

Discuss with your partner the following points

o Customs clearance of vessels in RF

o Customs regulations concerning ship clearance in US

o Container examination facilities in Russian seaports

Write an essay on one of the following topics:

a) New Customs Code of RF and clearance procedure of sea cargo

b) New technologies which facilitate vessel cargo clearance

1. What do you know about CLEAR-PAC?

2. Do you think the Automated System for Customs clearance can be effective?

3. What comes to your mind when you hear the words electronic documentation?

In June 1995, members of the private sector presented a proposal to the U.S.

West Coast – Russian Far East Ad Hoc Working Group to assess the feasibility of reducing clearance time by providing Russian Far East Customs with advance electronic copies of shipping documentation. The following year an agreement establishing CLEAR-PAC (Customs Link Entry /Exit America-Russia Pacific) was signed.

The task given to CLEAR-PAC by the U.S. and Russian governments was to reduce the time and expense required to gain cargo clearance in Russia by providing Russian Customs with advance electronic notification of cargo entry and shipping documentation. Through advanced electronic notification, Far East Customs officials can review entry documentation in advance of cargo arrival and identify any questions they might have about the documentation. This results in minimizing the potential storage time and associated costs of delayed cargo.

To test the feasibility of the idea of preliminary electronic customs processing, a pilot study was conducted in Vladivostok in 1997-98. Its success fueled further pilots on Sakhalin Island in 1999, which included air cargo, and in Vostochny in 2000, where the idea was applied to transit cargo.

The pilots demonstrated that it is possible to expedite cargo movement through Russian Customs by providing notification electronically prior to cargo arrival, so, in 2000, the project developers began creating the software for the foundation of the future Automated System. This milestone has resulted in a module that connects Russian Customs and customs brokers – key participants in the customs clearance process in Russia – in one paperless environment.

Russian customs officials and business people see great potential in the CLEAR-PAC program, and the interest in it continues to grow. It is also impressive to realize that customs release of cargo has been reduced by half or sometimes two thirds or more of the time that it usually takes. By reducing the time of customs clearance, the final cost of goods shipped to Russia is significantly lowered.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29