A disclaimer applies: these informal views of the services do not purport to represent the Commission’s formal opinion.

1) How will the 300€/unit threshold be assessed? Shall we assume that it is assessed as CIF price or transfer price for intercompany transactions?

The 300 €/unit threshold will be assessed as price VAT free, value declared on the export statements, provided that it is in accordance with market price.

2) What does an item mean? In all logic, an “item” means individual packaged item in a shipment, i.e. for piece of clothing, perfume or spirits, it is the individual selling item: per handbag, per cloak, per perfume bottle or Cognac bottle, for instance? In the absence of proper clarification, customs officials may end up with differing views of what constitutes an item across EU Member States.

An item for the purposes of this provision means usual packaging for retail sale, eg a carton of 6 bottles of wine if they are sold together, or a bottle of wine if it is meant to be sold separately. For bulk items, price per usual unit measure (Kilo, liter etc.).

3) It would also be useful to confirm whether the ban applies to non-originating goods (or not), including goods in transit from other non-EU countries and that are intended for Russia, especially if such countries have not decided similar sanctions themselves (thinking of Latin American countries for instance).

Yes, the prohibition on transfer luxury goods to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia applies to the transit via the EU territory of those luxury goods. Often the transfer would involve the transportation of the goods, which is also prohibited by the transfer prohibition.

4) Does the ban apply to EU originating goods transiting through Russia towards further destinations such as Central Asia? The practicalities of logistics mean that, with Ukraine at war, Black Sea possibly closed, the land route from EU to Central Asia goes either through Russia or Turkey, and it would be good for all companies to know whether the two are open or whether everyone has to move to Turkey routes.

Not as such. Of course, the goods must be genuinely destined to a third country and for use outside Russia. Therefore, EU operators should have in place adequate due diligence procedures to ensure that their exports are not diverted to Russia – especially in case of transhipments via Russia. This could include, for instance, contractual clauses with their third-country business partners giving rise to liability in case the latter re-export the items to Russia, as well as ex post verifications. Please also note that under Article 12, EU operators cannot willingly or intentionally circumvent the prohibitions in place.