TEAM establishes legal practice!

TEAM's lawyers helped the client to recover the amount of damage from the State represented by the customs service in the case related to the embargo of imported products.

In June 2016, the company engaged in the import of components for the production of animal feed, imported meat by-products from Denmark to Russia. Despite the fact that the declarant had all the documents confirming the impossibility of human consumption of by-products, the customs authority sent samples of the goods for examination. In the end, the custom office admitted the imported product was fit for consumption by humans. Therefore, such goods were subject to confiscation and destruction as "sanction" (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 06.08.2014 № 560).

First, TEAM's lawyers appealed the decision on the classification of goods in an extrajudicial procedure, and finally it was canceled by the decision of a higher customs authority. But within the appeal time the expiration date of the goods has expired and it was impossible to implement it in the Russian Federation.

Throughout this time, it was also possible to cancel two decisions of the customs authorities on bringing the declarant to administrative responsibility. Within the court hearings, important evidences were recovered that formed the basis of the main case for the recovery of damages were obtained.

As a result, TEAM's lawyers:

• have canceled the decision of the customs authority;
• have won 3 processes in arbitration courts;
• have canceled 2 resolutions on bringing to responsibility;
• have recovered losses from the Federal customs service in the amount of more than 2 million rubles;
• have established a new legal practice in the North-West region!

Pavel Belonozhkin, senior lawyer of TEAM:

«This trial was in fact a kind of legal chess game, in which all the moves were important for the victory. As part of the administrative proceedings initiated by the customs itself, they were forced to "lay the cards on the table", and provided evidences that would be difficult to obtain in the usual business turnover.

As a result the court made an important conclusion that illegality of actions of public authority can be recognized within separate judicial dispute, and for this purpose existence of the previous judicial act on recognition of such illegality is not required.

This case is some kind of a "judicial precedent", as before the declarants did not recover from the state the value of the goods lost as a result of actions by the state bodies of the Russian Federation in the course of the application of the "sanctions" legislation».

TEAM is always on guard of interests of the clients, and we are ready to fight for protection of their rights to the victorious end.

Link to the case: http://kad.arbitr.ru/Card/397c1c94-27e7-47fe-bcca-c514327afa8e