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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Protecting buyers and legitimate businesses: a new electronic service for checking mobile phone IMEI numbers
Hiding a phone’s origin will become harder, and checking its customs clearance will be easier. At the initiative of the State Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, mandatory recording of mobile phone IMEI numbers during import has been introduced.
The initiative was implemented jointly with the Ministry of Finance and the State Customs Service. From 4 September 2026, the IMEI of every imported phone is indicated in the customs declaration.
The State Customs Service has also launched an open electronic service to check this information. It’s simple to use: just enter the device’s IMEI into the appropriate field. If a phone has multiple IMEIs, each should be checked.
https://cabinet.customs.gov.ua/imeicheck
For legitimate businesses, this service provides the ability to confirm the product’s origin. For buyers, it allows checking before purchase whether a phone is official and therefore whether it has a manufacturer’s warranty, rather than relying solely on the seller’s assurances.
For the SBES, this is an additional tool to counter the shadow trade in devices. Such data make it possible to verify the legality of imported phones that are already stored in warehouses or offered for sale.
“The mechanism proposed by the SBES links customs clearance information to a specific device. The phone receives a digital trace right at the border. This is the first step toward tracing its route from import to sale to the end consumer,” said SBES Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi.
The SBES recommends that importers, distributors, and sellers check in advance for the presence of IMEIs in customs clearance data and ensure proper documentary proof of the devices’ origin.
Important: the service displays information on customs clearances carried out from 4 September 2026. The absence of an IMEI, including for phones imported earlier, does not by itself prove illegal importation. The service also does not verify the device’s authenticity, its warranty status, operator blocking, or whether it is listed as stolen.
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