This morning a Russian media company RBC reported that (vaguely translated from Russian) "EU prohibited Russians to enter the EU with personal cars, smartphones and shampoo". A similar story is run in English by two other websites I'm not familiar with: Obozrevatel.com and Perild.com.
Question: are Russian tourists* prohibited from entering EU member states with smartphones/toothpaste for their personal use? Assuming there are no other restrictions like a country-wide entry ban for tourists, personal sanctions, or some specific non-EU-compliant shampoo (maybe a one that's too dangerous in general).
*—whether that means citizens of Russia, residents of Russia, any person entering EU from Russia, any person entering EU shortly after visiting Russia, non-citizen of EU (e.g. a US/UK citizen), or any reasonable combination of those.
There is a document titled "IMPORT, PURCHASE & TRANSFER OF LISTED GOODS. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – AS OF 8 SEPTEMBER 2023" at https://finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-09/faqs-sanctions-russia-listed-goods_en.pdf that seems related:
- Can Russian nationals temporarily bring personal goods and vehicles listed in Annex XXI and subject to the prohibition in Art. 3i of Council Regulation 833/2014 into the Union, e.g. for touristic travels?
No. Article 3i of Council Regulation 833/2014 prohibits the purchase, import, or transfer, directly or indirectly, of goods as listed in Annex XXI to the Regulation if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia. This includes motor vehicles (cars) falling under CN code 8703.
I believe this text relates to Annex XXI here, that includes:
3306 preparations for oral or dental hygiene, incl. denture fixative pastes and powders; yarn used to clean between the teeth ‘dental floss’, in individual retail package
3401 soap; ...; organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap
8703 motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702 )
8517 telephone sets, incl. telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network [such as a local or wide area network]; parts thereof (excl. than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443 , 8525 , 8527 or 8528 )