Ban on import of xiaomi. Russian customs are turning around Xiaomi smartphones - how to get around it. Options for safely purchasing Xiaomi through Chinese online stores
Russian customs began stopping Chinese company smartphones at the border that were not purchased from an official supplier.
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At the end of April, Russian media reported that customs in Moscow, Orenburg and Yekaterinburg began “wrapping” parcels containing Xiaomi smartphones. Representatives of the Federal Customs Service inspect parcels and, if they contain “counterfeit products,” return them to the place of departure.
What's happening
On April 23, residents of the Orenburg region community on VKontakte. In it, they said that local customs are unwrapping parcels with Xiaomi smartphones, citing the fact that they were purchased on the “gray” market.
The creators of the community announced an announcement on the official website of the Volga Customs Administration, which states that Xiaomi devices were returned to the senders on the basis of Article 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union and Article 18 of the Universal Postal Convention, which prohibit the import of counterfeit products.
Since March of this year, Orenburg customs, based on the results of customs control, has returned more than 500 international postal items (IPO) to senders with electronic devices, marked with the Xiaomi trademark.
According to iGuides, in addition to Xiaomi, Sony, BlackBerry and Chuwi devices may not cross the border.
Information about the new requirements of customs officers was confirmed by tech blogger Eldar Murtazin on his Twitter. He advised buyers to “play it safe” and not buy the devices now. And for those who have already placed an order, file a lawsuit.
Xiaomi's position
Back in March 2017, Xiaomi said that it would vigorously combat “gray” supplies of devices. RDC Group has become the official partner of the Chinese company in Russia, and Smart Orange has become the official distributor.
In fact, only the latter has the right to trade Xiaomi smartphones and transport them across the border. The remaining companies must coordinate the supply of goods with it, and if the distributor discovers a counterfeit, it can return it to the sender through the court.
On April 25, the first official presentation of Xiaomi in Russia will take place in Moscow. The company enters Russian market and, according to the senior vice president, intends to “deal with counterfeit goods.”
Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President of Xiaomi
Presentation of Xiaomi in Moscow
Representatives of Xiaomi in the community on VKontakte say that the company has banned the transportation of “counterfeit and pirated items” not from an official distributor.
They rely on the provisions of Articles 1515 and 1252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which regulate the protection of Xiaomi’s exclusive rights, in particular, to the brand and trademark and liability for their illegal use.
Thus, goods imported without the consent of the copyright holder, whose interests in the territory of the Russian Federation are represented by Smart Orange LLC, are counterfeit, since they violate the exclusive rights to the trademark of the copyright holder.
The company understands how complicated this makes the purchasing process, so they announced their readiness to provide affected customers with exclusive access to the official store and discounts on Xiaomi products.
How legal is this?
On April 26, the Federal Customs Service will fight counterfeit goods and fakes in parcels. True, at that time they only talked about child seats. Customs representatives stated that they intend to check not only goods arriving by transport, but also those arriving by post.
Customs officers have established effective contact with their Chinese colleagues, which allows them to jointly fight the flow of illegal goods.
Sergey Shklyaev, Head of the Trade Restrictions Department of the Federal Customs Service
The Federal Customs Service has the right to independently verify the authenticity of the goods. To do this, she must conduct an examination, but even if the smartphone is found to be “gray,” she will not be able to return it to the sender without a court decision.
This is stated in the joint plenum of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court.
A material medium can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court. If necessary, the court has the right to order an examination to clarify issues that require special knowledge.
Joint resolution of the plenums of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court
However, the Volga Customs in its message clarified that it stops the goods not because they are “non-original”, but on the basis of a violation of the exclusive right of the copyright holder.
In this case, the recognition of the product as counterfeit or genuine is carried out by the copyright holder of the Beijing Xiaomi Technology brand in Russia - the Smart Orange company. The distributor informed customs that goods with the Xiaomi marker delivered to post offices, are recognized as counterfeit.
The copyright holder reported that the import of these original goods violates his exclusive rights, as a result of which he objects to the import of these goods into the territory of Russia.
Volga Customs Department
But, as in its resolution, the plenum of the Supreme Court, the expert and other competent persons have the right to establish only signs of counterfeiting. The legal assessment of these signs is given by the court.
Smart Orange LLC, a distributor of smartphones from the Chinese brand Xiaomi, now has full rights as the copyright holder in Russia. As a result, customs is carrying out a massive seizure of parcels containing Xiaomi smartphones and accessories and returning them to Chinese sellers. And on this moment You can purchase Redmi and Mi series smartphones in Russia with an impressive markup. We want to tell you what you can replace Xiaomi smartphones to other worthy Chinese smartphones.
Xiaomi phones can be replaced with decent alternative Meizu smartphones. The most important thing is that you don’t have to overpay. And you can buy a decent chinese phone at the same cost.
What can replace Redmi 4A?
Smartphone Xiaomi Redmi 4A belongs to the budget series. Has a 5-inch display with HD resolution. Powered by a 4-core Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 graphics. This is a budget solution, and high performance You shouldn't expect anything from him. RAM is only 2 GB and 16/32 GB of storage. The smartphone is equipped with a 13 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. Xiaomi Redmi 4A has a 3120 mAh battery and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with MIUI 8.2 interface. Full review You can see .
A good alternative would be Meizu smartphone M5. Yes, indeed, many may not like the company’s special corporate design and even the interface. But these are all minor things.
The M5 smartphone belongs to the budget series and has a plastic body, like Redmi 4A. Meizu M5 has a 5.2 inch HD screen with a protective 2.5D. Powered by 8-core Mediatek MT6750 chip clock frequency 1.5 GHz. There are two memory options available: 2 GB + 16 GB will cost $103 and 3 GB + 32 GB will cost $132. The main camera is 13 MP with F/2.2 aperture with PDAF, fast auto focus and dual-tone LED flash, and a 5 MP front camera. You can see the full review of the smartphone.
Replacement option for Redmi 3S, 3X, Redmi 4, 4X smartphones
The main advantage, which is also its main disadvantage, is a huge 6.44-inch display with Full HD resolution, covered with 2.5D glass. Powered by Snapdragon 650 6-core processor, 3GB random access memory and 32/64 GB of permanent memory, 4850 mAh battery.
Both smartphones have Full HD resolution, Corning Gorilla glass protection, but different displays. The PHAB 2 Plus has a 6.4-inch with 2.5D curved glass, while the Mi Max has a 6.44-inch display. Lenovo PHAB 2 Plus runs on eight-core MediaTek processor MT8783 with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory + slot for MicroSD cards up to 256 GB. Phablet Mi Max Powered by a higher-quality 6-core Snapdragon 650 chip with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory + a hybrid slot for a MicroSD card up to 128 GB. The phablet has a dual 13 MP main camera and an 8 MP front camera, while the Mi Max has a 16 MP and 5 MP selfie camera. The Mi Max has a 4850 mAh battery, while the PHAB 2 Plus has a slightly smaller 4050 mAh battery.
I also want to note that it is another worthy competitor for the Xiaomi Mi Max smartphone. The Nubia Z11 Max phablet has a 6-inch Full HD screen, 16-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front camera, 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory expandable with microSD cards up to 200 GB. Battery capacity 4000 mAh.
Options for replacing the flagships Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 5S, Mi5S Plus, Mi 6
Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first smartphone in the history of Xiaomi devices that was equipped with a physical front button, instead of the classic three capacitive keys. Smartphones have very good specifications. I wonder what can replace them?
Since March 15, 2017, another official distributor, the Smart Orange company, has appeared in Russia. It sells Mi equipment and supports users throughout Russia. It sounds good, but not everything is so simple.
What is the problem
A week after the loud announcement and the appearance official store, users in in social networks complained about the following: Russian customs, by order of Smart Orange, began to unwrap Xiaomi smartphones ordered on sites like Aliexpress and send them back to China.
It is worth noting that we are talking about users with single orders, and not about gray suppliers and delays of entire batches of “gray” products intended for sale in the country and tax evasion.
Such illegal actions were noticed at the customs offices of Yekaterinburg and Orenburg. Many users have already suffered from them and have never received their Xiaomi phones from Aliexpress.
How do they explain this?
The Smart Orange company itself has officially confirmed its participation in the “scheme” and explains it as follows:
According to the letter of the Federal Customs Service dated March 15, 2017 and paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, paragraph 1 of Art. 1515 and paragraph 4 of Art. 1252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 18 of the Universal Postal Convention, Xiaomi smartphones imported through unauthorized channels are not allowed to be introduced into civil circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation. IN Lately Cases of suspension by customs authorities of such consignments have become more frequent. The situation also applies to orders from individuals placed on foreign online trading platforms and sent to Russia by post.
The company also calls on all users who are faced with a similar problem to become their customers and buy the same Xiaomi smartphone from them with an additional discount. This is the loyalty program.
What about prices in Russia?
The appearance of an official distributor in the country is an excellent event, which should primarily be aimed at improving service and user support, and secondly, at sales of official products. But Xiaomi fans on social networks noted the high cost of Mi smartphones; some models are sold 2 times more expensive than on Aliexpress.
For example (32 GB), which is sold on Aliexpress for 8-9 thousand rubles in the Smart Orange store, will cost 12,999 rubles. The Mi Max phablet with 32 GB of memory costs 19,900 rubles against the Chinese price of 12-13 thousand. Mi Note 2 - 34,000 rubles versus 25-26 thousand rubles.
How to order a Xiaomi smartphone so that customs does not return it
Users note that the problem affected Xiaomi smartphones, light bulbs, bracelets and others smart gadgets pass through customs without problems. And we note once again that cases have been recorded at customs in Orenburg and EKB. And so, here is a small list of tips on how you can buy Xiaomi on Aliexpress so that customs does not return it.
- ask the seller not to indicate that this is a Xiaomi smartphone (let him indicate Meizu, Bluboo, Venee or any other less popular brand)
- ask the seller not to indicate that this is a smartphone at all (let him write in the declaration that it is a gift, a photo frame, etc.)
- ask the seller to repackage the smartphone in another box so that it cannot be identified, without opening the package
- please do not send to the customs indicated above (although this is difficult)
What will happen to Xiaomi in Russia
The Xiaomi brand is very popular in Russia, Ukraine and other countries. No small merit in this is due to the Chinese stores that sell Mi equipment to the whole world. What will happen now to the Xiaomi brand and products in Russia?
The two main drivers of sales of Xiaomi smartphones are low cost and balanced characteristics. Without one of these components, the meaning of the devices of this brand is lost. There is a very small chance that in Russia users will start buying Xiaomi phones en masse at a double markup; such a scheme simply will not work. Most users will switch to similar smartphones that can be easily ordered from China: Meizu, LeEco, Huawei, Vivo, Oppo and others.
Xiaomi Tech proudly announces its record sales every year; if you compare the numbers, it becomes clear that a large percentage of these sales come from international markets, where the brand is not represented at all. The merit of these sales is precisely Chinese stores with reasonable prices and worldwide delivery, but the manufacturer is usually silent about this in reports.
Thus, by depriving Russian users of the opportunity to order affordable Mi smartphones on Chinese sites, Xiaomi itself will face losses and a drop in global sales. The current situation harms not only ordinary customers, but also the Mi brand.
We hope that Chinese stores will adapt to such conditions and will “whiten up gray products” by simply repackaging Xiaomi phones in regular white boxes, without logos and inscriptions.
Instead of conclusions
Do you remember the times of Redmi 1S, Mi3 and the first Redmi Note with a 5.5-inch HD screen? When all Xiaomi devices were sold in these cute beige boxes made from recycled cardboard. When even while waiting for the parcel there was something pleasant and magical. And when you picked it up at the post office and opened the coveted box, your delight knew no bounds.
Today, the popularity of Xiaomi has made the company highly commercial and this is felt in all aspects. The new products come with a locked bootloader, and the recognizable beige boxes have become featureless white, like Apple's. Today everyone is trying to make money from brand fans by raising prices and cutting off supply routes. But many do not understand what exactly fans want from Xiaomi, since they themselves are not fans.
The scandal around Russian customs and Xiaomi smartphones does not subside: more than 10 thousand people have already signed a petition against the ban on the import of devices. Let's find out from experts whether the actions of customs and the Xiaomi distributor are legal.
What's happened?
In Russia, cases of postal shipments containing Xiaomi smartphones being delayed at customs have become more frequent. People buy them from Chinese online stores, but the parcels do not pass customs control. The reason is the appeal of the Xiaomi distributor in Russia (Smart Orange LLC): they own the rights to the “XIAOMI” trademark and have declared all devices passing through customs to be counterfeit. Therefore, customs prohibits the import of Xiaomi smartphones through postal mail.
According to rough estimates, more than a thousand Russians are faced with this situation.
Whose side is the law on: what experts say
Hi-Tech Mail.Ru talked to lawyers about this situation and found out interesting details. Experts reported that they had not heard of similar cases in other countries.
It is quite possible that customs will be bombarded with lawsuits, since despite the completely legitimate claims of brand rights holders, according to the law of the Russian Federation, a material medium can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court.
As Ivan Nikitenko, an intellectual rights lawyer, explained:
A material medium can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court. That is, before the court decision comes into force, the disputed goods are correctly considered “goods with signs of counterfeiting.” This concept itself is legal. Therefore, the court must decide this.
According to Russian law, a product can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court decision.
However, the Head of the Moscow Human Rights Center Mikhail Salkin said that the actions of the distributor and the Xiaomi company are completely legal:
Customs has the right to do this - this is regulated by various laws as well as agreements. According to Russian law, customs may require you to provide a document that allows you to use a trade mark or trade mark in Russia.
Mikhail Salkin
Lawyer, head of the Moscow Human Rights Center
Lawyer Alexey Egorov also called these actions legal:
The situation is indeed quite loud. However, from the point of view of the law, the distributor, alas, is right. He is the copyright holder of the brand in Russia. This is also supported by the decision of the Federal Customs Service. Now, when receiving a smartphone, customs is obliged to send a request to the distributor, and he, of course, will answer that it is counterfeit. Therefore, online platforms selling gray models can already be considered violators of Russian legislation. It is easier for them to agree with customs and send the order back than to have problems with the law. Well, or at least not write that they are selling a smartphone of this particular brand (this is just a trick, not a legal way of selling).
Position of Xiaomi and Aliexpress
Hi-Tech Mail.Ru contacted the Xiaomi press service in Russia. to find out their attitude to this situation. They know about the situation with Russian customs and the distributor:
Xiaomi is aware of the current situation and together with our partner RDC Group we are working to resolve the problem. Our fans have always been the company's top priority.
Xiaomi press service in Russia
It should be noted that Aliexpress representatives declined to make official comments.
Is there a war coming with Seryak?
So, Xiaomi smartphones are being detained at customs - this is unfortunate, but another question arises: will this become a trend? Other companies, such as Meizu or Apple, may also claim ownership of the brand and declare all devices ordered from other countries counterfeit. Then we will face a large-scale war between official distributors and sellers of “gray” devices.
The customs actions set a precedent for other companies. There are already reports that devices from Sony, Blackberry, Chuwi and some other companies have been “wrapped” in a similar way.
As Yuri Salkin said, such an outcome is quite possible. Customs services have received new equipment that allows them to examine parcels without opening them. Therefore, there is a possibility that an iPhone ordered from an uncertified online store may also get stuck at the border. There have been no such cases so far, but be careful.
So far, all cases have occurred in Yekaterinburg and Orenburg customs, which is strange. For some reason, parcels with smartphones are not detained at Moscow customs and other cities. Perhaps they have just introduced new equipment there and are testing it. So in the future, other customs offices will probably also start stopping parcels with smartphones.
Why do people even order equipment from China?
The reason is simple - the price difference between a “white” and a “gray” device reaches an average of 30-40%. Let's say Redmi Note 3 Pro in the Smart Orange store will cost you 13,490 rubles. On “Ali” there is a similar copy with global firmware estimated at 8700-9500 rubles. In the upper price segment the difference in percentage is less, but in absolute numbers it is higher - the “official” Mi Note 2 is sold for almost 35 thousand rubles, and the “Chinese” one costs 28,781.
Are they “wrapping up” at all points?
Not really. Among indignant buyers, Ekaterinburg and especially Orenburg customs points are notorious. Users note that Xiaomi smartphones are allowed through Vnukovo almost without problems. A trend has also been noticed: several devices that arrived in Yekaterinburg in early May have been tested, but those from April are still lying around. Community subscriber Irina K. at some point began collecting statistics - which smartphones passed control and which failed. From these data it is clear that many devices are stuck in Orenburg, and the “May” devices are leaving Yekaterinburg:
Why did Smart Orange do this?
As in the case of consumers, suppliers are simply looking for their own benefit - “parallel” imports one way or another hit their pockets. It is difficult to calculate the volume of “left” deliveries, but judging by the frenzied reaction of deceived investors, a certain percentage passed by the official importer. About intentions to “strangle” gray smartphones The senior vice president of Xiaomi himself spoke at the presentation in Russia. Another thing is that such a step seems to have been designed primarily for wholesalers - Internet shuttles, who bought cheaper there and sold more expensive here. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of ordinary users.
Will others start doing this too?
In this regard, the behavior of Meizu, a direct competitor of Xiaomi for the attention of the Russian consumer, is indicative. Meizu also has a representative office in the Russian Federation, but no one is fighting the flow of gray imports - apparently, they want to drown it out not with bans, but with service and other advantages of “white” smartphones.
But there are also opposite examples, and from the well-known company Sony. The story about a guy from Surgut who ordered a PS4 Slim in Germany and received a fine recently spread all over the Internet - but there the issue is more likely to be the imperfection of the bureaucratic system: the new “Slim” simply did not have time to register in the database of the registry of notifications about the characteristics of encryption tools and goods. But the story that an employee of the Khabarovsk customs press service told to AmurMedia deserves close attention:
“There was a precedent when we turned back a parcel with a Sony PlayStation because the copyright holder said that he did not give permission to import,” Victoria Aleshina, press service of the customs point of the Khabarovsk Territory.
Victoria clarified that if a product is found in a parcel that is included in the Rospatent list, then a request is sent to the copyright holder - whether he gave permission to import. If the manufacturer refuses, the goods are returned to the seller. Judging by customer reviews, Sony is now pursuing exactly this tactic.
Ok, I bought a smartphone, but it got stuck at customs, what should I do?
Strictly speaking, you have two options. Of these, only one can lead to a satisfactory solution to your local problem.
Option 1. Going to court with the Federal Customs Service, which is long and tedious. Even if the outcome is successful, the trial may last more than one year. By then, the smartphone will no longer be relevant. Plus there is the overhead of litigation to consider.
Option 2. Try to get the money back. This option is preferable, if only because there are successful precedents. To refund, you need to make a request to the customs office about the reasons for the return, then open a dispute and attach a scan of the response there, explaining that the transport company returned the goods.
Officials create all sorts of obstacles. Just recently, a case of administrative violation was opened against a resident of Surgut for importing the Sony Playstation-4 game console. And all because the set-top box can access the Internet using encryption (cryptographic) means. It would seem that this is absurd, but it turned out that there are even more absurd things.
At the end of April 2017, customs began to unwrap parcels containing Xiaomi products, citing counterfeit products. In reality, of course, there is no counterfeit. This article includes parallel imports, when products are supplied not only by official importers. The justification given is the illegal use of the Xiaomi trademark. If previously the ban on parallel imports applied only to goods and services for sale, now it suddenly began to apply to the import of goods for personal use by individuals.
The legality of customs actions raises questions. Moreover, goods supplied for commercial purposes are recognized as counterfeit by a court decision, while parcels with Xiaomi goods for individuals, coming from abroad, are simply turned back by customs.
The Federal Customs Service of Russia maintains a register of intellectual property objects. Customs authorities may suspend the release of goods that violate intellectual property rights, including the right to use trademarks. In the case of parcels for individuals, the Federal Customs Service independently determines signs of counterfeit products, based on the data of the copyright holder.
The letter of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 15, 2017 N 14-40/12293 “On the XIAOMI trademark” specifies measures to protect the Xiaomi trademark. Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd is listed as the copyright holder of the Xiaomi trademark, and the following are listed as official importers:
- LLC "SMART ORANGE"
- LLC "MIXTECH"
- LLC "Retentive Distribution Company"
- LLC "Consul"
I have only one answer to such actions by official Xiaomi importers - a complete boycott of this company’s products. It makes no sense to pay Russian sellers 2 times more for Xiaomi smartphones. And ignoring the problem will soon lead to a complete ban on the parallel import of electronics into international postal items(MPO). The same trademarks iPhone, Sony and Nokia are on the same intellectual property registry.
