MOSCOW, April 15 (RAPSI) – The State Duma on Tuesday adopted a bill in the first reading giving the Russian Government the power to regulate the duty-free delivery of parcels containing private use goods.

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