MINSK, 28 January (BelTA) – The number of truck crossings across Belarus' border rose by 22,500 in 2019 year-on-year. The is partly attributed to the changes in the operation of the Kozlovichi checkpoint, Chairman of the State Customs Committee Yuri Senko told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
“The commercial traffic section of the Kozlovichi checkpoint accounted for nearly a quarter of over 2 million vehicles that underwent customs control in Belarus,” Yuri Senko said. He believes that the increase in commercial traffic at this point of entry is also due to the one-stop-shop principle of customs clearance. Customs agents process both shipping documents and forwarders' passports at the checkpoint.
Forwarders appreciate efforts to make customs clearance more convenient in Belarus, therefore the number of truckers crossing the Belarusian border increases, the chief of the Belarusian customs service said.
In all in, in 2019, some 111 million tonnes of goods were transported through the Belarusian border, down by 3.2 million tonnes over 2018. The drop in commercial traffic is attributed to reduction of coal transit from Russia by railway transport. At the same time, the aggregate transit flow of goods into the EAEU through Belarus rose by 5.4% up to 17.5 million tonnes, of them 11.4 million tonnes were meant for Russia. The number of border crossings rose by 5.1% up to 2.3 million vehicles. This shows a higher workload of road checkpoints.
