U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
3/98 INFORMATION ON USING GPS DEVICES,
RADIO-ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT,
AND COMPUTERS IN RUSSIA This information can change without notice. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS (GPS) The importation and use of Global Positioning Systems and other radio electronic devices are subject to special rules and regulations in Russia. In general, mapping and natural resource data collection activities associated with normal, commercial, and scientific collaboration may result in seizure of the equipment and/or arrest of the user. The penalty for using a GPS device in a manner which is determined to have compromised Russian national security can be a prison term of ten to twenty years. In December 1997, a U.S. citizen was imprisoned in Rostov-na-Donu for ten days on charges of espionage for using a GPS device to check the efficacy of newly-installed telecommunications equipment. He and his company believed the GPS had been legally imported and were not aware that Russian authorities considered nearby government installations secret. No traveler should seek to import or use GPS equipment in any manner unless it has been properly and fully documented by the traveler in accordance with the instructions of the Glavgossvyaznadzor (Main Inspectorate in Communications) and is declared in full on a customs declaration at the point of entry to the Russian Federation. All radio electronic devices brought into Russia must have a certificate from Glavgossvyaznadzor (Main Inspectorate in Communications) of the Russian Federation. This includes all emitting, transmitting, and receiving equipment such as GPS devices, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, and other kinds of radio electronic equipment. Excluded from the list are consumer electronic devices such as AM/FM radios. CELLULAR TELEPHONES To obtain permission to bring in a cellular telephone, an agreement for service from a local cellular provider in Russia is required. That agreement and a letter of guarantee to pay for the cellular service must be sent to Glavgossvyaznadzor along with a request for permission to import the telephone. Based on these documents, a certificate is issued. This procedure is reported to take two weeks. Without a certificate, no cellular telephone can be brought into the country, regardless of whether or not it is meant for use in Russia. Permission for the above devices may also be required from the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation. COMPUTER EQUIPMENT The State Customs Committee has stated that there are no restrictions on bringing laptop computers into the Russian Federation for personal use. The software, however, can be inspected upon departure; and some equipment and software have been confiscated because of the data contained in them, or due to software encryption, which is standard in many programs. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation
Russia 107842 Moscow
1A Komsomolskaya Place
Telephone: 7-095-975-4070
Department for clearance of items for personal use:
Telephone: 7-095-975-4095 Glavgossvyaznadzor
Russia 117909 Moscow
Second Spasnailovkovsky 6
Telephone: 7-095-238-6331
Fax: 7-095-238-5102 Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings
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