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Has Russia TIR ban reached Finland border?
[ March 21, 2014 // Chris ]Russia’s Federal Customs Service has extended its progressive ban on TIR documents to the Finnish-Russian border, a major conduit for trade between the EU and Russia, the International Road Transport Union reported on 18 March.
It said that, according to information it had received, TIR Carnets will no longer be accepted in the North-West region at Torfyanovka Customs office as of 20 March 2014. However, on 21 March IRU added that there had been no clear confirmation from Russian Customs and it appears that TIR operations are still being accepted at this border-crossing point, as well as at the remaining ones where TIR operations have not yet been restricted, namely the Vyborg, Karelia and Murmansk customs offices.
Transport operators travelling through this high-traffic border crossing point between Europe and Russia will now have to purchase additional national guarantees. The IRU therefore strongly advises all transport operators driving to, from and across Russia, to use the IRU Recommendations for TIR Carnet Holders in case TIR Carnets are illegally refused by Russian Customs officers.
IRU says that the moveis in direct violation of the TIR Convention, as well as several Court decisions rendered in Russia itself. It also defies instructions from the Russian Government taken in relation to TIR in the past few months and is “another worrying sign for the business climate in Russia.”
The IRU is currently in discussions with various Russian Ministries at all levels to quickly resolve the situation.