Russian environmental fee on imports in 2026
The environmental fee is the payment most often forgotten when an import consignment is costed, yet in 2026 the recycling target for packaging rose from 55% to 75% and base rates were indexed by 8%. Here is who pays, how the amount is calculated and what packaging data your Russian customer will ask you for.
In brief
- ✓The environmental fee on imports is paid by the importer — not by the foreign supplier or the carrier — because the importer places the goods and packaging on the Russian market.
- ✓The recycling target for packaging in 2026 is 75% (55% in 2025), so for the same weight the fee has risen by about half.
- ✓Formula: rate per tonne × weight in tonnes × (recycling target − confirmed recycling). Rates for 2025–2027 are set by Russian Government Decree No. 1041 of 01.08.2024.
- ✓The payment deadline depends on the goods: for items in the experiment (Decree No. 750 of 01.06.2024) — before customs release, per shipment; for all others — by 15 April of the following year.
- ✓A general switch to payment “at the border” from 2026 did NOT happen: Federal Law No. 495-FZ of 28.12.2025 extended the transition period for importers from third countries until 1 January 2028.
- ✓The penalty for non-payment is three times the amount, but not less than 500 thousand roubles for a legal entity.
Checked against current regulations on 19 September 2026
Rates, deadlines and lists change — we confirm what applies to your shipment on the date of dispatch.
What the environmental fee is and why it concerns the importer
The environmental fee is part of Russia’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme. The logic: whoever places goods or packaging on the Russian market is responsible for their subsequent recycling. The obligation can be met in two ways — recycling (in-house or under a contract with a recycler on the Rosprirodnadzor register) or paying the environmental fee to the state.
For the importer this means that once a consignment is released into free circulation in Russia, all the packaging it arrived in, and the goods themselves if they are on the official list, become its responsibility — not the foreign supplier’s and not the carrier’s, but the importer’s as the party placing the goods on the market.
The lists of goods and packaging covered by EPR are set by Government Decree No. 2414 of 29.12.2023. They include plastics, glass, metal, paper and cardboard, textiles, tyres and rubber, electrical appliances, batteries and accumulators, petroleum products — items from dozens of HS groups in total. Goods and packaging must be checked separately: a fee can arise on the packaging alone, even if the goods themselves are not on the list.
Practical conclusion: the environmental fee is not a carrier’s charge and not a customs payment the broker calculates in the declaration. It is a separate obligation of the importer that surfaces after delivery and has to be built into the cost in advance, alongside duty and VAT.
Calculation formula and recycling targets for 2026
The amount is calculated with a simple formula: rate (roubles per tonne) × weight of goods or packaging in tonnes × (recycling target − actually confirmed recycling). If nothing was recycled independently, only the target remains in the brackets — the most expensive scenario.
The key change in 2026 is that the packaging recycling target rose from 55% to 75%. With the same weight and rate, the fee increased by about half on the coefficient alone. For 2027 a move to 100% has been announced for packaging, so calculating with last year’s figures will understate the payment every year.
Targets for other groups also rose for 2026: textiles 30% (previously 20%), paper and printed matter 40% (previously 30%), tyres and rubber around 50–55% depending on the subgroup. The exact target must always be checked for the specific item, not taken as an average.
Base rates for 2025–2027 are set by Government Decree No. 1041 of 01.08.2024 and were indexed by about 8% in 2026. As a guide: textiles about 20,250 roubles/t, plastics about 5,162 roubles/t, paper and cardboard about 2,953 roubles/t, tyres and rubber about 11,135 roubles/t. A further indexation of about 4% is planned for 2027.
Remember the recycling complexity coefficient, which multiplies the rate and is very high for some groups. A telling 2026 example is tyres: Decree No. 2116 of 25.12.2025 introduced a technological coefficient that is zero if there is a certificate of conformity with GOST R 51893-2024 on carcinogenic safety and rises sharply without it. One document from the supplier can change the fee many times over. Decree No. 258 of 11.03.2026 additionally raised the recycling complexity coefficient for “tyres and rubber products” from 1 to 18, retroactively from 1 January 2026 — for uncertified tyres both increases add up, and the fee grows not severalfold but by orders of magnitude.
When to pay: before customs release or by 15 April
This is the most confusing question about the environmental fee, and published answers contradict each other. It is worth going through carefully, because a mistake here costs either a delayed consignment or a fine.
Originally, importers from outside the EAEU were to switch from 1 January 2026 to payment “at the border”: the fee or a financial guarantee before customs release, for each shipment separately. That is why many articles say that “from 2026 customs will not release cargo without the environmental fee”.
However, Federal Law No. 495-FZ of 28.12.2025 extended the transition period for importers from third countries until 1 January 2028 (the experiment procedure was amended by Government Decree No. 2228 of 30.12.2025). The result is a two-track system, and which track applies depends on the specific goods.
If the goods or packaging are included in the experiment (procedure set by Government Decree No. 750 of 01.06.2024), reporting and payment are tied to each shipment and made before customs release. Customs checks confirmation via the state waste accounting information system. The alternative to direct payment is a notification of independent recycling backed by a bank guarantee or a surety agreement with a registered recycler. The current period of the experiment runs from 1 September 2026 to 1 September 2027, as set by Government Decree No. 650 of 30.05.2026.
If the goods are not in the experiment, the previous procedure applies: consignments are imported during the year, and the report is filed and the fee paid for the calendar year no later than 15 April of the following year. For 2026 the deadline is therefore 15 April 2027.
On the EAEU: for imports from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan the “before release” experiment does not apply, because there is no customs clearance at the border with Russia. The environmental fee obligation remains and is met under the general procedure — for the year.
In fairness: a 90-day deferral instead of payment before clearance and the abolition of surety agreements with recyclers were discussed in parallel but did not make it into the law. The rules keep changing, so the applicable track should be confirmed for the date of delivery, not from an article read six months ago.
Reporting, payment details and penalties
EPR reporting is filed via the Rosprirodnadzor environmental user account and consists of several forms: a report on meeting recycling targets, a report on the weight of goods and packaging placed on the market (Decree No. 741 of 31.05.2024) and the fee calculation itself (Decree No. 1990 of 30.12.2024). Rosprirodnadzor receives import data from the customs service, so discrepancies between declarations and the importer’s report are visible without any additional audit.
A practical detail that often trips people up: importers pay to the account of Rosprirodnadzor’s central office, not the regional branch. A payment made to the “usual” details then has to be traced and corrected.
Liability is significant. Non-payment is fined at three times the unpaid amount, but not less than 500 thousand roubles for a legal entity. False information on weight: twice the amount, minimum 250 thousand. Failure to report: 70 to 150 thousand roubles. For a consignment where the fee itself is tens of thousands of roubles, the fine is an order of magnitude larger than the payment.
Exemption is possible for those who have confirmed 100% recycling, companies working exclusively for export, and those who bought packaging from a Russian supplier that has already met the obligation. Each ground must be documented — it does not apply automatically.
How to build the fee into the landed cost — and what you as supplier provide
The environmental fee is rarely the decisive cost item, but it can shift the margin unpleasantly — especially for light goods in heavy packaging. A telling example: ceramics, glass or tools in wooden crates and cardboard, where the packaging weighs about as much as the goods.
The steps we recommend: first, check by HS code whether the goods and their packaging are on the Decree 2414 list. Second, the Russian buyer will ask you, the supplier, for the actual packaging weight by material — cardboard, film, wood, stretch wrap and plastic inserts listed separately, because their rates differ. Third, calculate the fee with the 2026 target and add it to the costing alongside duty, VAT and the customs fee.
Fourth — and this often pays off best — review the packaging together. Replacing wooden crates with cardboard, dropping excess inserts or moving to mono-material reduces both weight and the applicable rate. It is the only lawful way to reduce the fee without changing the volume of the delivery.
We calculate the environmental fee together with the other payments at the quotation stage, before the supplier is paid, so that the “cost at the warehouse in Russia” figure is complete rather than optimistic.
Environmental fee benchmarks for 2026
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Recycling target: packaging | 75% (55% in 2025) |
| Recycling target: textiles | 30% |
| Recycling target: paper and printed matter | 40% |
| Base rate: plastics | ≈ 5,162 roubles/t |
| Base rate: paper and cardboard | ≈ 2,953 roubles/t |
| Base rate: textiles | ≈ 20,250 roubles/t |
| Base rate: tyres and rubber | ≈ 11,135 roubles/t |
| Rate indexation in 2026 | +8% on 2025 |
| Payment deadline (general procedure) | by 15 April of the following year |
| Payment deadline (goods in the experiment) | before customs release |
| Penalty for non-payment | 3× the amount, but not less than 500,000 roubles |
Figures are indicative; an exact calculation is available on request.
Frequently asked questions
Does the environmental fee have to be paid before customs release in 2026?
It depends on the goods. For items in the experiment under Decree No. 750 of 01.06.2024, reporting and payment (or a bank guarantee or recycler surety) are tied to each shipment and made before release. For other goods and packaging the general procedure applies — payment for the year, by 15 April of the following year. Federal Law No. 495-FZ of 28.12.2025 extended the transition period until 1 January 2028, so there was no general switch to paying at the border in 2026.
How is the fee on packaging calculated?
Rate per tonne × packaging weight in tonnes × recycling target (minus confirmed recycling). In 2026 the packaging target is 75%. Weight is taken for each material separately, because cardboard, film, wood and plastic have different rates. For example, one tonne of cardboard packaging at about 2,953 roubles/t and a 75% target gives a fee of roughly 2.2 thousand roubles.
Does the supplier or the importer pay the fee?
The importer, as the party placing the goods and packaging on the Russian market. The foreign supplier and the carrier are not payers. Exemption is possible with confirmed 100% recycling, export-only activity, or packaging bought from a Russian supplier that has already met its EPR obligation. As supplier, you help by providing accurate packaging weights by material.
Is the fee due on imports from Kazakhstan and Belarus?
Yes, the EPR obligation remains, but the “before release” payment scheme does not apply to EAEU countries, as there is no customs clearance at their border with Russia. The fee is calculated and paid under the general procedure, for the calendar year.
What happens if the fee is not paid?
A fine of three times the unpaid amount, but not less than 500 thousand roubles for a legal entity. False weight information: twice the amount, minimum 250 thousand. Failure to report: 70 to 150 thousand roubles. Rosprirodnadzor receives import data from customs, so discrepancies are visible without a special audit.
Can the fee be reduced lawfully?
Yes, in two ways. First, independent recycling: the confirmed volume is deducted from the target, and at 100% no fee is paid. Second, working on the supplier’s packaging: lower weight, cardboard instead of wooden crates and mono-material reduce both weight and rate. There is no way to “hide” packaging — customs passes import data automatically.
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