Belarus, Ukraine to ease border-crossing procedures

MINSK. March 4. KAZINFORM Customs services of Belarus and Ukraine will address the problem of long queues on the Belarus-Ukraine border, heads of the customs services of the two countries made such commitment at a working meeting in the Novaya Rudnya checkpoint on 3 March, BelTA learnt from the press service of the State Customs Committee; Kazinform refers to BelTA.

The sides have signed and approved a plan of action of the customs services of the two countries for 2011. The meeting highlighted cooperation in risk management, bilateral trade statistics data exchange, and staff training.

The sides have reached a preliminary agreement on bilateral cooperation and on the system early warning and joint response to emergencies. The Belarusian customs officers had signed the similar agreement with the Polish counterparts.

The Ukrainian side also promised to open the Novye Yarilovichi checkpoint by the end of spring. It will ensure smooth movement of goods and vehicles and eliminate long queues.

The heads of the customs services of Belarus and Ukraine hailed the high level of bilateral cooperation.