Car held at a temporary storage warehouse: what to do first as storage charges rise

Where no registration number is available, establish whether the declaration was submitted and whether a formal refusal was issued. Customs must register it or refuse registration within one working hour of submission, stating all identified grounds in the refusal. A verbal report that the declaration is not being accepted does not establish submission, the defect or whether resubmission can resolve it.

An incorrect mandatory field, format error or missing information can usually be addressed after examining the refusal, followed by a corrected declaration. If customs disputes the declarant's authority, the office's competence or eligibility to use a passenger declaration, resending the same file will not resolve it. Assess the stated ground and the available challenge instead.

A passenger declaration whose registration has been refused is treated as not filed. Release cannot proceed on that refused declaration. Demanding the car from the warehouse or urgently obtaining an electronic vehicle passport will not remedy the registration refusal.

Once a registration number exists, ask the representative for records of what happened next. The general release period is four hours from registration. If registration occurs less than four hours before the customs office closes, the period runs from the start of its next working period.

Checks may take longer where customs requests documents, orders another form of control, takes supporting control measures or requires declared information to be amended. The Code permits next-working-day release or extensions in specified cases. The usual extension limit is ten working days from the day after registration, unless a longer period applies to the particular check or expert examination.

After registration, request the procedural record explaining the status: a document request, extension notice, control decision, amendment demand, release decision or refusal. If the registration number exists and the deadline has passed but no record is supplied, ask the representative in writing which customs messages arrived and when.

If the representative does not answer or merely paraphrases events, send the request to customs in the declarant's name or through a duly authorised representative. Also check the service contract, power of attorney and obligation to pass customs documents to the client.

Treat personal use as the cause of this delay when the customs refusal, request or decision actually raises it. Then gather the purchase and payment records, import purpose, previous movements and each party's role. Without such a finding, invoking Article 256 of the EAEU Customs Code does not explain the delay.

Once release is confirmed, direct the main request to the warehouse. It should state whether it received the release information and what actions or documents remain necessary for collection. If it still denies receiving release details, request the references it holds and a written explanation for withholding the car.

Storage debt, the recipient's authority and other contractual matters can prevent handover after customs release. Separate them from the customs decision. Ask the warehouse for the specific legal or contractual basis it relies on. An unpaid-invoice explanation alone does not identify the amount, period or services in dispute.

Check the temporary storage period separately. It generally lasts four months, starting the day after customs registers the documents submitted for placement into storage. That date may differ from the car's physical arrival at the site. Request the document used to calculate the period, not only the invoice and tariff.

If the passenger declaration was registered before temporary storage expired and no release or refusal decision has been made by the end of four months, expiry alone does not justify detention. A later refusal of release engages special detention rules. Establish the dates and documents rather than relying on a verbal statement that the warehouse period has expired.

An appeal must identify the decision, action or failure to act being challenged. The usual administrative appeal period is three months from when the person knew or should have known of the infringement, or from expiry of the prescribed decision period. Filing an appeal does not ordinarily suspend customs processing or warehouse charges.