For the second time in a year the Russian Federal Customs Service (RFCS) has been quoted as being in favour of a reduction in the duty free value allowance extended to individuals entering the country.

Currently this stands at R.65,000 ($2,261), but RFCS Deputy Director Leonid Lozbenko was quoted in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper this week as saying that he is in favour of reducing it to between R.15,000 to R.20,000 ($522 to $696). At the same time he is credited with saying that the government is also looking at reducing the weight limit on goods carried by each traveller on entry from 50 kilograms to 25 to 30 kilograms.
Lozbenko said that the reductions were being considered to halt the organised trafficking of goods bought by travellers on behalf of non-travellers and added that was in line with the World Trade Organization?s (WTO) guidelines that allowances should reflect the personal needs of individual travellers only. Russia is planning to join the WTO in 2006.