Following the 4 July decision of the Estonian Government, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) will commence, as of 8 August, to increase the capacity of controls of persons travelling and goods being transported to the Russian Federation via Narva, Luhamaa, and Koidula border crossing points to gradually prepare for a seamless transition to the new system.
The ETCB asks all persons crossing the border to ensure that they do not carry prohibited goods and to set aside more time for crossing the border.
“Implementation of sanctions is the number one priority in the field of customs, and taking goods that can be used in warfare to the Russian Federation is under especially close attention of customs authorities,” said Voldemar Linno, Head of ETCB’s Customs Control Department.
Carrying out full customs controls instead of the current risk-based controls is time-consuming and could reduce the capacity of the border in the direction of the Russian Federation by half. The ETCB asks to set aside more time for crossing the border.
- For a traveller crossing the border on foot, full customs control means the inspection and examination of the traveller and the luggage he or she carries. If the passenger crosses the border by car, the mean of transport and the goods inside are also checked.
- Passengers travelling by regular buses are also asked to step out of the bus with their luggage and undergo pedestrian customs checks.
- Control of goods means checking the correctness of the booking of the truck, scanning the truck, opening the doors of the cargo area and control.
“We ask all people going to the Russian Federation to make sure that the goods they carry are not subject to sanctions and to plan twice as much time for crossing the border as usual. We have informed customs cooperation partners of the change,” Linno added.
“Estonian customs, which has used the risk-based method until now, is already known among carriers as one of the strictest, but with the addition of sanctions packages, attempts to circumvent sanctions are also becoming more frequent. Last year, customs control detected more than 5000 violations. Furthermore, every hour we send back a few people to whom we have issued a warning for violating sanctions from the Narva customs office,” Linno said. “Intentional violation of sanctions is a crime and will be followed by criminal proceedings conducted by Estonian Internal Security Service and the proceedings are led by the Prosecutor’s Office.”
The introduction of full customs control in the outbound direction is based on the decision of the Government of the Republic of 4 July, which stems from the increasing number of attempts to circumvent sanctions and the risk assessment of the ETCB.
12550
info@bussijaam.ee
Mon–Fri 08:00–19:00
