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- Turnaround from the gate: the authorities want to tighten control over the import of clothes and shoes
Turnaround from the gate: the authorities want to tighten control over the import of clothes and shoes
The government plans to strengthen control over the import of inexpensive clothing and footwear against the background of the deteriorating situation of Russian light industry manufacturers, Izvestia found out. The problem is related to the fact that the systematic underestimation of the customs value of foreign products allows importers to reduce the cost of duties and taxes, creating unequal conditions for domestic companies and displacing their goods from the market. To combat such schemes, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service intend to create a mechanism for automatically comparing data on the cost of imported goods, tax payments and commissioning. At the same time, experts warn that in the early stages, the innovation may increase the administrative burden on the business. The Izvestia article describes how the initiative will affect the textile industry market.
How will the authorities control the import of clothes and shoes
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) and the Customs Service (FCS) plan to test a new mechanism for controlling imports of light industry goods by the end of the year. This follows from the draft minutes of the meeting of the State Commission for Combating Illicit trafficking in industrial products, which was reviewed by Izvestia. The authenticity of the document was confirmed by a federal official and a source familiar with the discussion of the initiative.
As part of the experiment, it is planned to combine three sources of information: data from the Federal Customs Service on the declared customs value of imported products, information from the Federal Tax Service on tax payments, and information from the labeling system on the introduction of goods into circulation. This will make it possible to compare the valuation of goods upon import with their subsequent sale on the Russian market. A significant discrepancy between the indicators may indicate a possible underestimation of the customs amount and, as a result, underpayment of duties and taxes.
The departments should present the results of the experiment in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to the materials of the state commission. Currently, there is no automatic comparison of the FCS data and the labeling system.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade explains the launch of the experiment with frequent cases of false declaration of the value of foreign products. According to the agency, some importers artificially lower the price of goods upon importation, which makes it possible to reduce the amount of customs payments and gain a price advantage over bona fide market participants.
According to the ministry, the volume of imports of light industry products in 2025 reached 1.6 trillion rubles, with about 60% of shipments coming from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that the growing competition from cheap, including illegal, goods has become one of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the situation of Russian companies. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, in January—May, the production of light industry goods decreased by 4.6% year-on-year. The output of clothing decreased by 8.4%, leather goods — by 1%, textile products — by 0.1%.
The materials of the state commission also note that in some categories, foreign goods are noticeably cheaper than domestic ones. For example, the average cost of Russian—made knitwear is 403.9 rubles per unit, while the imported equivalent is 258.6 rubles, which is about a third lower. A similar situation is observed in the shoe segment: the average price of a pair of domestic shoes reaches 1.5 thousand, and imported products — 941.7 rubles.
The experiment will be part of a broader digitalization of import control, a federal official familiar with the discussion of the project told Izvestia. In particular, the Federal Tax Service has already implemented a confirmation system for waiting for goods (SPOT), which provides for pre-registration of shipments from the EAEU countries. According to the source, the customs authorities will be able to use this data in the future.
Representative of the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT, operator of the Fair Sign marking) He told Izvestia that the company is technically ready to integrate its data with the information systems of the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service within the framework of a mechanism to be determined by regulators. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service did not respond to Izvestia's requests.
How will the measure affect the light industry market
Experts and market players evaluate the initiative in different ways. The combined Wildberries & Russ company supports measures to increase transparency in trade and promote fair competition, its representative told Izvestia. At the same time, the new control mechanisms should effectively detect violations without creating additional administrative barriers for bona fide market participants, he stressed.
At the same time, a top manager of a large retail chain in the clothing and footwear segment warns that the production of these products in Asian countries is significantly cheaper due to lower labor costs, production scale, high localization of raw materials and a developed export infrastructure. The cost of manufacturing individual products there, according to his estimates, may be one and a half to three times lower than in Russia. Therefore, the price difference between domestic and imported products cannot always be considered as a sign of underestimation of customs valuation, he said.
A Lamoda representative declined to comment. Soyuzlegprom, Melon Fashion Group (brands Zarina, Befree, Love Republic, Sela), R-Mixed (MAAG, ECRU, DUB and VILET) and Sportmaster did not respond to questions.
Cheap imported products are not always inferior to domestic ones in terms of basic safety, but they systematically lose out to Russian goods in terms of labeling transparency and quality of consumer characteristics, the press service of Roskachestvo told Izvestia. The organization conducted a study of more than 700 products of Asian and African origin, 89% of which belong to the non-food category. The results of the inspection turned out to be heterogeneous: the average rating of foreign goods was slightly more than three points. Almost half of the products received high marks, but 13% of the products were found to have such serious violations that their rating was reset.
Thus, the origin of the product itself — imported or domestic — is not considered a guarantee of quality, according to Roskachestvo. One of the main markers of problems is precisely the low price: in an effort to reduce the cost of products, foreign manufacturers make technological compromises, they added. Among Asian imports, LED lamps (90%) and running shoes (88%) accounted for the largest share of goods with low ratings, and in 20-30% of cases, shortcomings were found in children's shoes, school clothes, backpacks and men's jackets.
The new control mechanism is a continuation of the government's policy of increasing the collection of taxes and customs payments, said Yana Prigoda, Senior associate at Verba Legal. According to her, government agencies are consistently strengthening information exchange, and the SPOT system from the Federal Tax Service has already become an example of this approach.
— The importer fills out a document in advance about the upcoming delivery, which is necessary to calculate the security payment (this is the amount that will be used to pay indirect taxes — import VAT and excise taxes on excisable goods). However, the information contained in it is of interest not only to tax authorities, but also to customs. During selective control, this data can already be used for customs control purposes — the current legislation does not prohibit this. The integration of data from the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Customs Service and the labeling system will make such control even more effective and will increase the collection of customs payments," the expert explained.
At the same time, the new mechanism may increase the burden on business, Yana Prigoda believes. In her opinion, the number of inspections is likely to increase, since in addition to the existing risk management system, an additional automated control algorithm will work. Until such a mechanism is fully configured and false alarms are eliminated, companies will have to take into account additional requirements, pay more attention to document preparation and provide competent legal support, the lawyer believes.
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