Until the scope of the new regulations is clarified, the Ministry of Infrastructure recommends extreme caution in carrying out transport to Belarus. The State Customs Committee of Belarus announced that trailers and semi-trailers registered in Poland must leave the territory of that country by July 2.
State Customs Committee Belarus announced on Tuesday that by 24.00 on July 2, all trailers and semi-trailers registered in Poland must be exported from the territory of Belarus. From midnight, the Belarusian regulation of June 19, prohibiting the movement of trailers and semi-trailers registered in Poland, will come into force within the country.
Prohibition extended
The Ministry of Infrastructure, asked by PAP to refer to the information of the State Customs Committee of Belarus, explained that currently there is a ban on the movement of trucks and tractors registered in EU countries through the territory of Belarus. It was added that after entering into force on July 3 this year, new regulations (decision No. 391 of June 19, 2023), the traffic ban will be extended and will apply to: trucks and tractors registered in EU Member States (so far); trailers (semi-trailers) registered in Poland; passenger cars registered in Poland and carrying out international transport of goods, on the basis of an individual waybill or an international “CMR” waybill, provided that these cars will only be able to pass through border crossings on the Belarusian-Polish section of the state border.
The Ministry pointed out that Order No. 391 also updated the list of reloading points, the corresponding checkpoints and petrol stations where foreign vehicles can be refueled. It was added that the document also defines the procedure of the Transport Inspection and customs authorities in the event of a violation of the ban on the movement of vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, including the procedure for affixing navigation seals during transport through the territory of Belarus.
The MI made a reservation that the new Belarusian regulations do not abolish the existing possibility of entering reloading points and logistic centers. “At the same time, the information published on the website of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus shows that on July 3, 2023, an absolute ban on the entry of Polish semi-trailers and trailers to the territory of Belarus will be introduced” – added.
“The Ministry of Infrastructure recommends far-reaching caution in carrying out transport to Belarus, until the scope of the new regulations is clarified” – it was emphasized in the reply sent.
Retaliation?
The president of the Association of International Road Carriers in Poland, Jan Buczek, commenting on Tuesday for PAP on the decisions of the Belarusian authorities, noted that the order to take Polish trailers and semi-trailers out of Belarus is retaliation for retaliation introduced earlier by the Polish MIA. When asked whether there are still semi-trailers and trailers with Polish registration in Belarus, he indicated that “there may be some residual amounts, but they are not important for the Polish economy.”
From June 1 until further notice, freight traffic on the border with Belarus has been suspended for trucks, motor tractors, trailers, including semi-trailers, and vehicle combinations registered in the territory of Belarus and Russia – is a regulation of the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration. It was a decision to keep in force by Belarusian Supreme Court conviction of an activist of the Polish minority Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in a maximum security penal colony.
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