Tiraspol, 5 June. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The chairman of the State Customs Committee (SCC), Vitaly Nyagu said in an interview on the First Pridnestrovian TV channel what the committee was going to do in a response to the establishment of joint Moldo-Ukrainian control at the Kuchurgan border crossing and how the SCC was gradually improving its performance.
Installation of the joint post
According to Vitaly Nyagu, Pridnestrovie had not been informed so far about the scheme of the joint Moldo-Ukrainian post's work, about its functions and crossing procedures. «Once again no one is taking us into account. All the decisions made about this post have been agreed by the two sides only, and the role of extras has been left to us," said Nyagu.
However, as Nyagu states, it is now clear that the joint border control will result in additional difficulties for Pridnestrovians. «Our citizens will not be able to import goods to the extent they used to do. This is the most important indicator," said Nyagu.
Meanwhile, not only importing goods across the border, but even crossing the border may result in additional difficulties. This particularly refers to Pridnestrovian citizens who do not have a residence permit issued by Moldovan authorities.
According to Nyagu, a complete ban on crossing the border is unlikely, but imposing fines on those without Moldova-issued documents is quite possible.
To minimise the negative effects of the joint post installation, the SCC is working to redirect Pridnestrovian imports to another transport corridor. Previously, over 50% of goods, excluding natural gas imports, came through the Kuchurgan-Pervomaysk border crossing.
«We are considering the option of redirecting cargoes to the Novyie Goiany checkpoint. The infrastructure of this customs post is suitable for customs clearance, and we want to gradually transfer all customs procedures to this checkpoint," said Nyagu.
The SCC also expects that some of the goods to be imported through the Gredenitsy-Nezavertaylovka checkpoint.
Improvement of the SCC’s performance
In addition to seeking measures to minimise the costs of the joint actions by Kiev and Kishinev, the customs authorities do not cease to perform their daily tasks. It should be noted that the SCC's work is gradually improving; the number of bureaucratic barriers is diminishing, and the customs officers are becoming more open to citizens.
«We have permitted individual businessmen and economic entities to pass customs clearance at the border crossing through which they import their goods," said the SCC chief. According to the SCC's estimates, this decision will lower the logistics costs of Pridnestrovian businessmen from $1.5 to 2 million a year.
Besides, the SCC's leadership holds regular meetings with the business community to find out which other procedures need to be simplified. Both the online conference service and the FAQ section on the committee's website serve the same purpose.
«We see and analyse what different categories of people are interested in. Both experts and ordinary citizens who know nothing about customs affairs. And we try to answer them in an understandable way. Avoiding dry terminology," said Nyagu.
When dealing with export formalities, an economic agent can submit a declaration to any customs office rather than to the one he is registered with. The same procedure applies to railway import formalities.
The SCC's website also provides information about the value of individual product categories, which significantly simplifies and speed up the process of declaring.
Now it is not necessary to declare the same goods that come from different countries under different names and produce origin certificates. The entire technology for the control of imputed goods has been also completely revised.
According to Vitaly Nyagu, these measures are already yielding results. «We have seen a steady increase in payments even as compared with last year. For example, our exports to Russia was only 8% at the end of 2016, now it is 12%," said the SCC chairman.
The circulation of electronic documents between the customs offices of the two countries will also contribute to export growth of Pridnestrovian goods to Russia. Russia will be able to differentiate our products from Moldovan exports. The project is now in its final stage.
Another area of the SCC's work is the drafting of an updated Customs Code compliant with the standards of the Eurasian Economic Union. The new draft code, according to Nyagu, will cater for both business and the state.
