Not much has been said about the subjects of foreign economic activity. How to understand what it is about and what it means? First you need to understand what constitutes foreign economic activity. So, let's start building a logical chain with a definition.
Concept
To talk about the subjects of foreign economic activity, one must understand what the activity itself is. What is it? This is the name given to the activities of the state to develop cooperation with other countries in such areas as tourism, trade, technology, economy and culture.
The legal basis is international treaties, which can be multilateral. The latter establish the main directions and principles of cooperation between countries in various fields. A striking example is the Agreement on cooperation in foreign economic activity of countriesmembers of the CIS, which was adopted back in 1992.
Treaties can also be bilateral, they are designed to regulate relations between the two parties on a specific issue. Such agreements mean a lot, because they establish the obligations and rights of the parties, spell out the problems that will be regulated, and aspects of cooperation.
Bilateral agreements establish preferential treatment for persons involved in foreign trade. That is, legal and natural persons have no less favorable rights than persons in other countries. For example, in the CIS countries there is a free trade regime, that is, there are no customs duties, fees and taxes between the countries-participants of the agreement for those goods that are produced in the territories of the states.
In addition, foreign economic activity is also called entrepreneurial work, which is aimed at moving goods or finance across the border of our country. This also includes the provision of services or the performance of any work.
Both objects and subjects are involved in foreign economic activity. Let's talk more.
Object
Before you define the subject of foreign economic activity, you need to deal with the object. So, an object is understood as an import-export relationship between host entities. In addition, this also includes relations that are related to the performance of work or the provision of services in the territory of another country.
Export-import relations arise when products or goods are delivered outside of Russia or vice versa. But alsoThat's not all. Relationships can also arise from the movement of capital when holding accounts or investing in another country.
In addition to the subject of foreign economic activity and the object, there is also an object. This can be the construction of facilities, the supply of goods, the transportation of foreign trade goods, payment for services, goods or investment in the economy of another country.
Subject
The subjects of foreign economic activity are individuals with the status of an entrepreneur or legal entities that conduct entrepreneurial activities. From legal entities, Russian enterprises owned by individuals and legal entities, enterprises of foreign investors, enterprises that were created by local governments, state enterprises will be considered subjects.
According to the regulation, foreign economic activity of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, foreign enterprises, state and others is allowed in a general manner. But for certain types of activities, a special procedure was established. This happens because the country attaches special importance to certain types of activities. For example, to protect national interests, a special order is established for strategically important commodities.
To get the right to export, it is necessary to go through a lot of procedures for enterprises and organizations. The procedure for such foreign economic activity of economic entities is enshrined in the Regulations “On the procedure for registering organizations and enterprises that have the right to export strategically important rawgoods . The document was approved back in 1993 and is still in effect.
Foreign economic activity of subjects of the Russian Federation is possible only if the economic entity acquires a special legal status. Documents will be required to purchase it.
Required documents and reasons for refusal
So, an organization or enterprise as a subject of foreign economic activity is obliged to provide the following papers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country:
- Report on the organization's finances for the previous year.
- Certificate from the applicant, which indicates firms with accounts or funds in foreign banks.
- A certificate from the bank, which indicates the currency and ruble account. It must be accompanied by letters of recommendation.
A request for registration can be canceled, as well as for re-registration, for the following reasons:
- There were violations of the legislation of our country in the non-economic sphere.
- The legislation of another country was violated, which caused political and economic damage to the Russian Federation.
- The applicant was seen dumping (lowering) prices outside our country.
- Claimant has a history of non-fulfilment of strategically important commodities.
- Applicant has been found to engage in unfair competition or restrictive business practices.
- Obligations on supplies for state needs were not fulfilled. For this item to become the basis for refusal, it is necessary to have supporting contracts in hand.
In case of registration, the enterprise as a subjectforeign economic activity receives a Certificate of Registration. The latter is valid for a year.
In addition to the certificate, enterprises are also included in the Register of enterprises that export. It is under the jurisdiction of the MVES. At the time of obtaining the certificate, the organization or enterprise must sign the Commitment of the Exporter of Strategically Important Commodities. According to this document, the subject is obliged to provide data on foreign exchange earnings from these goods to the MFEC.
Who doesn't need registration
Not all entities need to register as an exporter. For example, the export of strategically important goods that were produced on the territory of the Kaliningrad region can be carried out without special registration. An important point is that the enterprise must have a certificate issued by the Kaliningrad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. By the way, the exception does not apply to crude oil and refined products.
Who are intermediaries?
Today, the foreign economic activity of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be conducted both directly and through intermediaries. Moreover, the same organization can use two methods at once. It is important that intermediaries draw up a contract for the provision of such services.
By the way, intermediaries also belong to the subjects of foreign economic activity with the only difference that they cannot carry out activities for which special permission is required.
Even intermediaries who workthrough other intermediaries are also subjects.
But we digress a little, let's talk about the competence of subjects.
Power of subjects
Everything that we said above is certainly important, but it is even more important to understand what power the subjects are endowed with. To do this, you need to know how they are separated. So there is:
- General competence.
- Special competence.
As for the first, it belongs to the government of our country, the president, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. They are engaged in the implementation of rights in foreign trade activities.
We can say that the subjects of our country have special competence. This also includes the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Customs Service, the Federal Service for Export and Technical Control and others.
Let's take a closer look at the powers of all participants in the activity.
President
What powers does the president have? Let's figure it out.
- Determines the main directions of our country's trade policy.
- Sets restrictions and prohibitions on foreign trade in intellectual property, services or goods in response to or for the purpose of participating in international sanctions.
- Determines the procedure for the export and import of precious metals and stones into the country.
- Has other powers as well.
State
The state as a subject of foreign economic activity can establish rules both for itself andfor other countries. That is, the state carries out not only political organization, but also economic activity.
What are the powers? Now we will analyze everything in detail. The state, as a subject of foreign economic activity, has the right to regulate not only property, but also other relations, as well as to license any types of activity and exercise control over the foreign economic situation. The state also participates in civil law relations. Its powers extend to the conclusion of international treaties, participation in intergovernmental commissions and the creation of international organizations.
Russian government
We have already de alt with the concept of a subject of foreign economic activity and now considers the powers of these very subjects. So let's not stop and move on. So, the government of our country:
- Ensures and implements a common trade policy in the state. In addition, the Government makes important decisions and ensures their implementation.
- Sets the customs duty rates.
- Uses protective, countervailing and anti-dumping measures for foreign trade to protect Russia's economic interests.
- Introduces restrictions on the import and export of goods in accordance with international treaties and federal laws.
- Determines the procedure for maintaining and generating licenses issued by the federal bank.
- Determines issues related to the negotiation and signing of international treaties.
- Determines the order of import and exportfissile nuclear substances.
- Sets the procedure for exporting from the country those goods, some of which are state secrets.
As you can see, even the general appearance of the subjects of foreign economic activity does not indicate the similarity of powers.
Ministry of Industry and Trade
This body regulates foreign trade activities. It is the Ministry that conducts investigations before introducing protective, anti-dumping, countervailing and other measures when importing goods. The Authority also issues licenses allowing the export or import of a commodity. It is important to understand that paper is required only in a situation where the product must be licensed.
Customs and Ministry of Finance
As for the FCS, it should control and supervise the customs area. It is also entrusted with the functions of currency control.
The situation is slightly different with the Ministry of Finance. The authority is responsible for developing customs payments, foreign exchange transactions and determining the customs value of goods.
In addition to these two bodies, various commissions and federal services have special competence.
Foreign entities
We have told almost everything about the objects and subjects of foreign economic activity, only a little remains.
I would like to talk about foreign legal entities, and specifically about their legal personality. As a rule, recognition of legal personality occurs on the basis of multilateral or bilateral international treaties,predominantly trading.
Three legal doctrines are always observed in these papers, namely:
- National treatment.
- Most favored nation.
- Special mode.
What does this mean? In the first case, both Russian and foreign participants have the same obligations and rights, according to the legislation of our country. As for the principle of favored nation, we are talking about a situation where all foreign legal entities have equal conditions on Russian territory. In the third case, the terms of international agreements and treaties are implied.
Based on this, it is necessary to establish which state the legal entity belongs to and whether it is such according to the laws of its country.
Foreign subjects of foreign economic activity are subject to international law. What does it mean? It is through international law that the status of a legal entity is determined, according to which the legal capacity and procedure for liquidation are established. These moments are also influenced by the nationality of the subject.
The legal status of a foreign entity is determined by the generally accepted provisions of private international law, personal statute. The latter is defined as the legal order of a particular country, which endows enterprises with the properties of a legal entity and establishes relationships that are allowed to enter.
It is important that the personal status is recognized not only in Russia, but also abroad. To determine the nationality of a legal entity, it is sufficient to apply certain doctrines.
In Russia, subjects of legalregulation of foreign economic activity are determined by the country where the legal entity was established. Today, the nationality of a legal entity and personal status are no longer inextricably linked. This is due to the fact that more and more national legal entities with foreign capital appear, that is, the concepts simply ceased to coincide.
What is the result? Foreign entities in our country are legal entities and organizations in a different legal form, established outside the Russian Federation, stateless persons, citizens of other countries permanently residing outside the territory of Russia. As a rule, the main majority of subjects are legal entities with different legal forms.
What is the legal status of subjects of foreign economic activity? For foreign entities, the following organizational and legal forms are typical:
- Special partnerships.
- General partnerships.
- Anonymous societies.
- OOO.
- Production cooperatives.
Such familiar joint-stock companies in Russia and Germany and incomprehensible anonymous companies in countries where the Romance language is used have the same meaning as companies in England or corporations in the United States.
In Germany, limited and general partnerships are not considered legal entities, but they enjoy the rights of the latter. That is, such partnerships have the right to conclude contracts, as well as act as a defendant or plaintiff in court.
Legal regulation of foreign economic activity of entitiesentrepreneurship determines the ability of individuals to be participants in foreign trade activities. To do this, they must be registered with the relevant government agency, and this must be done on the territory of the country where the person was born.
As for stateless persons, they must first obtain state registration of an entrepreneur in the country where they live permanently.
All foreign citizens who carry out their activities on the territory of our country (including individual entrepreneurs) have the same obligations and rights as Russian citizens. Moreover, in Russia national treatment is granted unconditionally.
Foreign entities have the right to create representative offices and branches on Russian territory, but on condition that they have permission.
Representation
What is this? Let's look at the definition. A representative office is a separate subdivision of a foreign legal entity, located differently from its location. The main duty of the representative office is to represent the interests of the legal entity in our country. They act on behalf of the firm and work in accordance with Russian law.
To open a representative office, a foreign company must submit a written application to the accrediting body. We will talk about the procedure for accreditation of subjects of foreign economic activity below, for now it is enough for you to know that such a body can be the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, determinedagency or ministry.
What to write in the application? First, the paper must contain the purpose of opening a representative office. Secondly, you need to describe the scope of the enterprise. And, thirdly, to provide information about business ties with Russian enterprises, as well as about previously concluded commercial transactions and agreements. Naturally, you need to describe in all details.
Together with the application, the charter of the legal entity, a certificate from the bank on solvency, an extract from the trade register, a decision of the governing body of a foreign enterprise to open a representative office, a regulation on a representative office, a receipt confirming the payment of the established fee.
All accredited representative offices are entered in the Register of Representative Offices. Instead, a legal entity receives a certificate. It is important to understand that the representative office does not have the status of a legal entity, which means that only the company that organized it is responsible.
When the representation ceases to operate
A representative office of a foreign company may cease to exist in our country for a number of reasons. Some of them:
- Permit has expired.
- The agreement concluded between Russia and another state has ceased to operate. This is considered grounds only in the situation when this document was opened by agreement.
- The company whose representative office worked in the Russian Federation was liquidated.
- Permission was revoked by the accrediting body due to violation of the conditions under which it was allowed to open and workrepresentation.
- Foreign company decided to close its representative office.
Branch
What is behind the term? A branch is a separate subdivision of a foreign legal entity, located in a different place from the legal entity itself and performing all or part of its functions. In addition, the branch may perform the duties of a representative office.
The procedure for accreditation of branches is determined by the government of our country. The Accreditation Department of the Registration Chamber under the Ministry of Justice of Russia exercises control over the liquidation, creation and activities of branches. Accreditation is granted for periods of up to five years and is carried out within 30 days. To extend the deadline, documents must be submitted (along with a written application) 30 days before the deadline.
Regulations on the branch should contain:
- Name of branch and parent organization.
- Location on Russian territory, as well as the legal address of the main enterprise.
- Types of activity and purpose of establishing a branch.
- Procedure for managing a branch.
- Volume, composition and timing of capital investment in the branch's fixed assets.
As you can see, the law very strictly monitors the classification of subjects of foreign economic activity, and this brings results.
