The law firm "Ilyashev & Partners" in court proved the erroneous interpretation by the customs authorities of the decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade on the application of an antidumping duty only on the basis of the UKTVED code and the country of origin, without taking into account the description of the goods.
According to the decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade, an anti-dumping duty was introduced on the import of rebar and wire rod, which fall under the description of the goods. However, Donetsk Customs of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine insisted on paying an anti-dumping duty also for long products, which, according to the description, do not belong to rebar and wire rod, but are classified according to the same UKTVED codes.
After multiple appeals of the leading Ukrainian manufacturer of hardware products, PJSC "Druzhkovsky Plant of Metal Products" to the State Fiscal Service for explanations, the fiscal authorities admitted an error. However, the customs refused to return the anti-dumping duty amounts accrued and paid by the enterprise during 2018-2019 regarding the supply of raw materials - long products for the production of hardware products.
In order to protect the interests of the plant, Ilyashev & Partners appealed against the actions of customs in court.
On March 18, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Druzhkovsky metal products plant. The court ordered the customs to re-consider the plant's application for the return of the overpaid amounts of the state duty and report on their return to the State Treasury Service. The court's decision was executed, the funds were returned to the plant in full.
“This is one of the first cases when the company in court proved the fact of the need to collect anti-dumping duties on the description of the goods, and not on the UKTVED code,” says partner, lawyer, head of international trade practice Alena Omelchenko. “The court came to the conclusion that the decision of the customs to pay the anti-dumping duty was made with an excess of authority and not in the way determined by the current legislation.”
The interests of the Druzhkovsky plant of metal products at all stages of the trial were represented by the team of Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm led by partner Alena Omelchenko and the head of the Kharkiv office, Andrey Litvin.
PJSC "Druzhkovsky Plant of Metal Products" specializes in the production of hardware products: bolts, nuts, rivets for general mechanical engineering, fasteners for the superstructure of the railway track, high-strength fasteners for building and bridge structures in accordance with regulatory documents. The company's products are used by Ukrainian railways and exported to Poland, Turkey, Moldova and Kazakhstan.
