MOSCOW, March 4 (RAPSI) – A bill giving the Russian Government the power to regulate the duty-free delivery of parcels containing private use goods has been submitted to the State Duma, according to the official website of the lower house of parliament.

As of January, DHL, FedEx and several other express courier services halted the delivery of parcels containing private use goods to Russia after the government approved stricter customs clearance rules that delayed delivery.

Federal Customs Service Head Andrei Belyaninov said the following parameters for duty-free delivery of parcels had been approved after talks with the express courier services: the parcel value was cut to EUR 150-200 from EUR 1,000 and the weight to 10 from 31 kilograms.

The law drafted by the ministries of economic development and finance does not formalize these regulations but gives the government the power to approve them.