The Committee on Law Enforcement considered the Draft Law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on Criminalization of Smuggling of Excisable Goods, as well as Inaccurate Declaration of Goods" (No. 5420), introduced by the President of Ukraine as urgent.
The draft law proposes to supplement the Criminal Code with three components of a crime related to smuggling: smuggling of goods, smuggling of excisable goods and inaccurate information included in the declaration of goods. Currently, these crimes are classified as administrative violations.
At the same time, punishment, more severe than a fine, is proposed to be applied only in cases where there are certain qualifying circumstances - the crime was committed by an official, by prior conspiracy, by a group of persons or by an organized criminal organization.
The relevant Sub-Committee supported the proposed changes, noting that the sanctions set out in the draft law could be adjusted in preparation for the second reading.
The Committee decided to recommend to the Verkhovna Rada to adopt the draft law No. 5420 in the first reading as a basis.