FAS ISSUED A WARNING TO THE FEDERAL CUSTOMS SERVICE
FCS could have restricted competition, providing priority access to the service on information about risk-level categories of participants of foreign economic activity
As FAS found, FCS published information on its web site that to obtain access to the service on priority information about risk-level categories of participants of foreign economic activity (FEA) it is necessary to join the Charter of Bona Fide FEA participants by providing their electronic signatures to support the Chart.
Thus, the persons that do not join will be deprived of the access to information about the category of risk levels.
Such actions of the authorities can create a threat of restricting competition by providing particular economic entities with priority access to information.
Since regulatory acts of the Russian Federation do not obligate to join the Chart, FAS concluded that actions of the Federal Customs Service contained signs of breaching the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” [1].
The Antimonopoly Service sent a warning to FCS to eliminate restrictions on access of FEA participants that did not supply their e-signatures to support the Chart, to the service on priority information about risk-level categories of FEA participants. According to the document, the regulator also must notify FCS participants on removing restrictions for access to the service on priority information about risk-level categories of FEA participants, placing relevant information on the FCS official web site.
The warning must be executed by 20 May 2019.
Reference:
Clause 6 Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” prohibits federal executive bodies to pass acts and (or) exercise actions that lead or can lead to preventing, restricting, eliminating competition, except cases of passing acts and (or) exercising such actions (omissions) specified by federal laws, in particular, it prohibits granting priority access to information for economic entities.
[1] Clause 6 Part 1 Article 15