Another criminal case closed

RockBridge Legal partner and attorney Viktorija Jarkina-Toča, together with her team, proved the error of Latvian customs and saved the client’s valuable goods from confiscation. The criminal proceedings were initiated based on materials from the SRS Customs Board, considering the SRS Customs Board’s suspicions of an attempt to circumvent sanctions by declaring goods subject to sanctions with an incorrect code. In the criminal proceedings, there were contradictions between the manufacturer’s and the SRS Customs Board’s opinions regarding the goods’ compliance with Combined Nomenclature code 72166900 (could not be imported, was subject to sanctions) or 72169900 (could be imported, was not subject to sanctions). 

Several pieces of evidence were submitted in the criminal proceedings, indicating that Latvian customs had identified an incorrect Combined Nomenclature code, but the prosecutor ordered an expert examination to verify the goods’ characteristics. The expert examination confirmed that the Combined Nomenclature code specified by the goods’ manufacturer was correct, while the one determined by Latvian customs was incorrect.  

Given the above, it was established in the criminal proceedings that the metal profiles imported into the territory of the European Union were not goods subject to EU economic sanctions. Consequently, no EU regulatory framework was violated during the import of the metal profiles into the European Union, and the criminal proceedings are to be terminated due to the absence of elements of a criminal offense.