Seizure of branded items from Russians at airports in European Union countries

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At the end of last year, cases of personal belongings seized from Russian citizens flying from the countries of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the “EU”) became more frequent: laptops, phones, jewelry, cosmetics, clothes.

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a warning on its official website for Russian citizens, in which it recommended refraining from traveling to Germany unless absolutely necessary (see paragraph 1 “Sources”).

Germany has de facto become a “territory of lawlessness” for Russian citizens. Cases involving violations of the “sanctions regime” are not being examined objectively and comprehensively.

Requests from the Russian Embassy in Germany and the Consulate General of Russia in Bonn regarding detention and confiscation are being ignored.

The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly recommends that Russian citizens refrain from traveling to Germany unless absolutely necessary.

The Consulate General of Russia in Bonn has also posted on its official website recommendations for Russian citizens planning to travel to EU countries (see paragraph 2 “Sources”).

Please note that the status of a private person or the declared personal purpose of the goods do not exempt from the application of sanctions restrictions: even a single item intended for personal use or as a gift is prohibited if it is included in the relevant sanctions list.

The cost limit applies to luxury goods (clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry if the unit value exceeds 300 euros, consumer electronics (phones, headphones, computers, etc.) if the unit value exceeds 750 euros, musical instruments if the unit value exceeds 1,500 euros, etc.

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One of C Cases' clients was also affected by the so-called “sanctions regime”: at the end of 2025, the client faced the seizure of personal items when departing from the airport in Moscow. Stuttgart.

Immediately before boarding the Stuttgart-Istanbul flight, the client was detained and searched by officers of the General Customs Administration in Istanbul. Stuttgart, the reason for the search was “Rossiya”'s answer to a question from customs officers about which country's passport a passenger is carrying. As a result of the search (which lasted about an hour, and therefore all flights were missed), German customs officers seized items previously purchased by a Russian citizen in the UAE and drew up the following documents about this: a seizure report (German: SicherstellungsProtokoll) and a document submitting security and empowering the person to receive correspondence (German. Sicherheitsleistung und Zustellungsvollmacht) (collectively “Documents”).

As it turned out later, the Documents show that an individual is suspected of exporting luxury goods from the EU to Russia, which allegedly contradicts the requirements of one of the “sanctions” regulations in force in the EU, namely EU Regulation 833/2014 of July 31, 2014. (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”).

In connection with this situation, the C Cases team initiated its own investigation in order to protect the violated rights of a client who was discriminated against in the EU on the basis of nationality, which directly contradicts Article 21 of the EU Charter, Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, and Article 3 of the German Basic Law.

The official position and actions of the General Customs Administration in St. Stuttgart:

Luxury goods (Luxusgüter), according to paragraph 2ast. 3H of the Regulation, means any product whose value exceeds 300 euros (unless otherwise provided for in Annex XVIII to the Regulations).

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 3h of the Regulations, any Russian individual, legal entity or government body is prohibited from performing the following actions with respect to luxury goods:

• sell;
• supply;
• transmit;
• export.

Please noteto the fact that the Regulations provide for a list of things, the import of which is prohibited to the EU, and a list of things the export of which is prohibited from the EU. Luxury goods are only included in the list of items prohibited from being exported from the EU. Thus, you may be able to import luxury goods (as a general rule, goods worth more than 300 euros) into the EU legally, but you will not be able to export them (customs authorities may consider this to be the export of luxury goods from the EU to Russia or, for example, by transport (German der Transit)). As a result, customs authorities may seize personal belongings of Russian citizens at their own discretion.

It is also important to consider that a person is detained and searched shortly before the plane departs, and therefore the detained Russian citizen finds himself in a stressful situation: taking the risk of boarding a flight, searching personal belongings in the presence of others, communicating in a foreign language without an interpreter, documents in German (if a translation into Russian is provided, then at the very end only for signing, an copy of the text of the acts may not be issued).

As a result, a Russian citizen flies out (often buying new tickets) impersonal items after signing documents whose content he does not know under psychological pressure.

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To avoid these situations, the C Cases team recommends:

• carry checks confirming that you purchased items outside the EU;
• explain that things were purchased and used exclusively for personal purposes in everyday life, to assert that things were used repeatedly, even if they were purchased recently;
• focus on the quantity and composition of the items being seized (for example, 1 pair of shoes in your size, rather than 10 pairs of uniform shoes, which could indicate the purpose of their resale);
• focus on the insignificance of the excess value of the goods.

If customs authorities do draw up documents on the seizure of items on the basis of suspicion of a violation of the EU sanctions regime, the C Cases team recommends paying special attention to the following when signing documents:

• The document may specify the person you authorize to receive case correspondence on your behalf by signing documents (for example, in our case, this person was an official representative of the district court in Moscow. Stuttgart (German. Amtsgericht Stuttgart);
• the document may state that you were assisted in translating documents;
• the document may state that you voluntarily gave things away.

The period for appealing against drafted acts and confiscating things is 1 month From the date of their issue, objections should be filed with the customs authority that issued them directly (German einen Einspruch einlegen). If the requirements contained in the objections are not satisfied, you have the right to appeal the actions of the customs authorities in court (German eine Klage einreichen).

When appealing against the actions of the customs authorities, we recommend

• send a request for information on your case to a person allegedly authorized to receive correspondence (in our case, to the official mail of the District Court in St. Stuttgart (German. Amtsgericht Stuttgart): poststelle@agstuttgart.justiz.bwl.de). You may be surprised to find that the person who was authorized to receive correspondence on your case for you no longer works for the relevant organization and you will have to arrange with other representatives of the relevant organization to send you correspondence;
• send a written request to the Central Information Office of the Customs Service (German. Zentrale Auskunft der Zollverwaltung) with a request to clarify the provisions of the Regulations;
• When drafting objections to Documents drawn up by officers of the General Customs Administration, you must clearly argue your position, based on the provisions of EU regulations (in particular, provisions that establish the inadmissibility of discrimination based on nationality), and require you to cancel your agreement to appoint representatives to you without your informed voluntary (i.e. legal) consent.

In addition, it may be advisable to send official requests for assistance in restoring violated rights and legitimate interests to the following state bodies:

• Consulate General of Russia in Bonn (info‑ bonn@kdmid.ru);
• Consular Section of the Russian Embassy in Germany (infoberlin@kdmid.ru, infokonsulat@russische-botschaft.de);
• German Embassy in Moscow (https://germania.diplo.de/ru-ru/ueber-uns/botschaft/kontakt-konsulat).

The C Cases team will continue to share with you useful practical information on protecting the interests of Russian citizens in cases of violation of their rights by the customs authorities of the European Union countries.

If you are faced with restrictive measures being applied to you in the European Union or if you have questions regarding the sanctions in force in the European Union, the C Cases team will be happy to provide consulting services and provide legal advice tailored to your situation.

Sources:

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation: warning for citizens of the Russian Federation planning to travel to the Federal Republic of Germany (https://www.mid.ru/ru/useful_information/information/preduprezhdeniya_dlya_rossiyskikh_grazhdan/2070113/);
• Consulate General of Russia in Bonn: important information for Russian citizens (https://bonn.mid.ru/ru/).