28 September 2007
Customs official notes increase in transit via Belarus
Transit via Belarus has been on the rise, Andrey Planin, deputy head of the Customs Control Organization Department of the State Customs Committee, told reporters in Minsk on September 27.
According to him, road carriage increased by 26.3 percent and rail carriage by 1.2 percent in the first eight months of 2007. Shipments from and to Russia accounted for 90 percent of the road carriage and 85 percent of all rail carriage.
Freight shipments by road via Belarus increased in number by 32 percent to 383,000.
Mr. Planin noted that an agreement on the transit of goods, signed in Moscow on June 29, 2007, would establish a simplified customs clearance procedure for goods carried through Belarus.
He added that the accord provides for uniform transit conditions, specifies the status of documents applied for customs purposes, and the rights and duties of people involved in through carriage. The implementation of the agreement would help increase the through carriage of goods to Russia, Mr. Planin said. Both countries currently conduct internal procedures to put the agreement in force, he added.
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