Customs officers found almost five hundred violations during the import of humanitarian aid in 2023

Last year, customs officers detected nearly five hundred violations related to the import of humanitarian aid into Ukraine. This is more than 4 times more than in 2022. This was reported by the press service of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, UNN reports . 

Details 

"In 2023, the customs of the State Customs Service drew up 464 protocols on violation of customs rules related to the movement of humanitarian aid," the report says . 

As noted, this figure is 4.6 times higher than in 2022, when 100 protocols were drawn up.

Most violations concerned the importation of commercial consignments of goods under the guise of humanitarian aid or simultaneously with humanitarian cargo, using it as a cover.

There was also an almost 17-fold increase in the number of reports of illegal acts containing signs of a crime under Art. 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal use of humanitarian aid for profit) and  Art. 358 (forgery of documents). In 2023, customs officers sent 489 reports to law enforcement agencies, compared to 29 reports in 2022.

 Reminder

On April 1, 2024, a new procedure for declaring humanitarian aid came into effect. Now, customs control of humanitarian cargo is carried out only after its registration in the Automated Humanitarian Aid Registration System. 

For reference 

In total, since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, 1,829,288 tons of humanitarian goods have been brought to Ukraine,  including more than 173,000 vehicles. These goods also include medicines, medical equipment, food, military equipment, clothing, footwear, generators, and much more.