The Bureau of Economic Security (BES) discussed changes to the import process with representatives of the largest legal electronics retail chains; these changes will put an end to anonymity in smuggling and bring in an additional UAH 5 billion per year to the state budget.
"The Ministry of Finance has already signed the relevant order, and the Ministry of Justice has completed its state registration. This concerns the mandatory inclusion of mobile phone IMEI numbers in customs declarations during import," according to a BES statement on Telegram.
According to BES's estimates, the state budget could receive more than UAH 5 billion annually thanks to the inclusion of mobile phone IMEI numbers in customs declarations.
Specifically, every phone has its own IMEI – a unique number, like a fingerprint – but until now, customs officials never asked for it, which is why gray-market imports were so rampant. "Now, every phone will be identified right at the border. And once it has a name, it's impossible to smuggle it unnoticed. For those who have been profiting from gray-market imports and electronics smuggling for years, this marks the end of their usual schemes," the bureau said.
The agency also said the next step will be including IMEI numbers on tax receipts. "The BES, together with the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service, is developing a corresponding implementation algorithm."
