What is the GTD?
The GTD (in Russian ГТД, “Грузовая таможенная декларация”) is the “Cargo Customs Declaration” which, as every exporter knows, is the main document that allows customs clearance.
The Customs Declaration is prepared by the person in charge for the cargo and certified by the Customs Inspector. It contains information about the cargo, its tariff heading and its customs value, the delivery vehicle, the exporter and the importer.
Each GTD generates a unique registration number that has this format:
X X X X X X X X / X X X X X X / X X X X X X X
and that can also be read through the QR code located at the top and to the right of the Declaration. The first block of numbers is the code of the customs authority, the second block indicates the date and the third block is the progressive number of the Declaration.
The GTD is delivered to the importer and is, as we have already said, the document that makes the import-export operation possible. It also has an important statistical function since it transmits to the Customs Statistics Department the data that will then feed all the international trade databases.
Why GTD is so important for EAC and GOST Certification?
In the field of certification, the GTD fulfills two important functions.
Shipment of samples
Periodically, the Eurasian authorities carry out random checks on the validity of EAC certifications. They take into consideration all the formal aspects of the procedure, such as the actors’ accreditation, the real existence of the requested documents (for example, the Technical Passport) and, above all, the scrupulosity of the laboratory tests. In this sense, rather than analyzing the test reports, they look for an official proof that the samples have been sent and delivered to the laboratory.
The only document that is recognized as valid to prove the sending of the samples is the GTD, since its unique code demonstrates the Customs Clearance.
Unfortunately, receipts from traditional carriers (UPS, DHL, etc.) are not accepted. It is also not common for these operators to deliver a GTD to their clients because they often carry out customs procedures in an accelerated way without formally carrying out an import operation. When they are required to deliver this document, they need the recipient of the shipment to act as importer, something that is outside the legal scope of technical laboratories.
These limitations lead to delays and returns of the cargo and have favored some specialized Russian operators that do act as importers in customs procedures. Their costs are clearly higher than those of the usual carriers, but they guarantee the delivery of the samples without issues with the obtaining of the precious GTD.
Single Contract Certifications
Both the EAC Certificates of Conformity and some GOST certificates (for example, the GOST Fire and GOST Metrological) can be issued with validity limited to a single contract (or single delivery). This means that the certified product may only be used by a defined importer, under specific conditions, those established by the sales contract.
More and more, the GTD is a document that certifies the unequivocal relationship between the product and its final destination. In the past it was considered enough to indicate the contract data (registration number and importer data), but today the traceability of the GTD confers full validity to a single contract certificate.
The condition is that the GTD clearly mentions the products subject to a single contract certificate. Unfortunately, this requirement is not so easy to meet, since in the case of exports of industrial assemblies not all components are usually detailed.
Do you still have doubts? Do you need to make a shipment with GTD? We are not carriers, but we have a trusted partner. Send us an email to [info@gost-standard.com] and we will do our best to help you 
