Moldova, Romania to ease cross-border traffic

Chisinau, 8 August /MOLDPRES/- The Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova and the Romanian customs authority will take several actions to ease cross-border traffic by late August, during which flows increase on average by over 20%.

According to the Customs Service, the measures are laid down in a joint action plan, signed yesterday in Albita by Customs Service Director of Moldova Vitalie Vrabie and Bogdan Lari Mihei, deputy head of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration in Romania, coordinator of the activity of customs structures.

The dialogue was boosted following the recent visit by Prime Minister Pavel Filip to Leuseni customs post, where the official identified several irregularities on extending the time to cross the border with Romania. At the same time, Filip sent a letter to Romanian counterpart Viorica Dăncilă, asking for the involvement of the Romanian Government in identifying an optimal solution to accelerate the crossing of the common border.

The most important measures agreed by the two authorities refer to increase the number of personnel and control equipment, use of all tracks, including those on the opposite crossing, as well as boosting exchange of information. At the same time, the measures ordered by the Customs Service also provide for the involvement of the heads of customs posts and their deputies in the control procedure, as well as the creation of intervention groups, whose members are recalled from leave to cover staff needs.

“We monitor the situation on border posts non-stop, and if we witness the increase of flows, we intervene to speed up the passage. It's a vacation period, and that means people have to spend the little time they have to rest, but not in customs. For this reason, it is important for them to have operational control on both sides of the border,” Vrabie said.

Bogdan Lari Mihei informed about the efforts to fill 210 vacancies, and approval on supplementing the staff by another 200 units of positions. This will allow increasing the number of customs workers in positions of the highest traffic values.

At present, the most transitory customs post remains Leuşeni. Just last week it recorded over 24 thousand crossings of transport units, while in other periods of the year the traffic amounts to about 18 thousand crossings.

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor L. Alcază)