Laws and regulations:
- Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova, Law no. 1149/2000 (Article 1841).
- Contravention Code of the Republic of Moldova, Law 218/2008 (Article 287).
- Law no.1569/2002 on the procedure of import and export of goods to/from the Republic of Moldova by individuals (Article 10).
- Law no. 170/26.07.2018 on the registration of certain vehicles and amendment of certain legal documents (para. 7).
Resident and non-resident individuals are entitled to take onto the customs territory of the Republic of Moldova, free of import duties, with the payment of vignette, for personal purposes, vehicles listed under tariff headings 8702, 8703, 8711, 8704 (with a weight with a maximum load not exceeding 5 t), and trailers attached to them (tariff heading 8716), regardless of their lifespan, only if they are declared by action and placed under a temporary admission customs procedure for a period not exceeding 180 days within 12 consecutive months, subject to the following conditions:
- vehicles shall be permanently registered in other states;
- the resident individual shall own or have the right to use the vehicles, as confirmed by the corresponding documents; non-resident individual shall own or have the right to use the vehicles and live temporarily in the Republic of Moldova, as confirmed by the corresponding documents;
- vehicles shall be removed from the territory of the Republic of Moldova before the term granted according to the customs procedure of temporary admission expires;
- vehicles shall not be used for services of transportation of goods and passengers;
- if the non-resident individual is assigned a different procedure of stay on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, relevant confirmation documents shall be presented to the customs authority in order to extend the term of stay of the vehicle declared by action, entering the information in the State Register of Transports.
Resident and non-resident individuals who fail to take the vehicles declared by action out of the customs territory are not allowed to import other vehicles onto the territory of the Republic of Moldova under the declaration by action procedure.
Motor vehicles taken to the customs territory by individuals residing in a foreign state and holding a driving license issued in the country where they reside, declared by action, may remain on the customs territory of the Republic of Moldova for a period exceeding 180 days, however without exceeding the term of stay of the motor vehicle under the temporary admission customs procedure defined in Article 69 of the Customs Code (up to 3 years).
The declaration by action is closed in the Customs Information System when the vehicle crosses the border on the way out of the country through the border customs posts (See the list of customs posts here).
It should be added that the motor vehicles declared by action remaining on the customs territory after the expiry of the term of temporary admission granted pursuant to the provisions of Article 1841 of the Customs Code are identified, arrested and brought by the police, border police or mobile teams to the closest customs office or to the border customs authority, based on a report issued for this purpose.
If the police bring the motor vehicle to the customs office, the motor vehicle is escorted by the customs office to the border customs authority to ensure that it leaves the customs territory of the Republic of Moldova within 24 hours from the date the vehicle is brought to the office, and the costs of escorting the motor vehicle are charged based on the fees set forth in the Law on the customs tariff. The costs of bringing and escorting the motor vehicle are covered by the individual who infringed the term of stay of the motor vehicle on the customs territory.
It should also be noted that: “for the vehicles declared by action and placed in temporary admission customs procedure, with registration number plates issued in the administrative-territorial units on the left bank of the Nistru river or Bender municipality, except Cocieri, Corjova, Cosnita, Dorotcaia, Molovata Noua, Pirita, Pohrebea, Vasilievca in Dubasari district, obtained before 24 April 2018, the temporary admission customs procedure ends after the registration of the vehicles with the subdivisions of the Public Services Agency, based in the cities of Tiraspol and Ribnita and after obtaining plates with a neutral registration number”, pursuant to the provisions of the Law no.170/26.07.2018, regarding the registration of some vehicles and the modification of some legislative acts.
In conclusion:
You need to be aware of the following mandatory restrictions applicable to the declaration by action of the vehicles brought into the territory of the Republic of Moldova by individuals:
- the maximum period of stay shall not exceed 180 days (3 years in case of derogation);
- the vehicle brought can only be used by the person who declared it by action;
- the vehicle may not be sold, leased, subleased, loaned, pledged, transferred or made available to another person on the territory of the Republic of Moldova except with the consent of the customs authority, after payment of import duties and release of the vehicle for free circulation;
- a single vehicle can be taken into the Republic of Moldova by declaration by action.
