20 September, Vitebsk /Alena Tikhonova - BELTA/. The Vitebsk Customs Office processes 95% of customs declarations electronically (the exception being the customs transit procedure), as reported to BELTA by the department, summarising the results of work for the first 8 months of the current year.
"The Vitebsk Customs Office is carrying out targeted work to ensure the full-scale use of the National Automated System of Electronic Declaration (NASED) by economic entities of the region when declaring goods; and to simplify and improve customs procedures," the department explained.
In the area of operation of the Vitebsk Customs Office, approximately 2.5 thousand economic entities conduct foreign economic activities. Over eight months of the current year, more than 470 thousand vehicles and over 43 thousand consignments of goods were cleared through the border.
The complex of organisational and practical measures implemented by the customs office in cooperation with law enforcement agencies to identify and suppress crimes and administrative offences in the field of customs affairs has yielded positive results in ensuring legality in foreign economic activities.
Based on the results of work for January-August, the law enforcement unit of the customs office initiated 5 criminal cases under Article 231, Part 1, and Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, which were subsequently transferred to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus. More than 600 administrative offences were identified, resulting in the seizure of goods and vehicles worth over Br31 billion. 55 cases of illegal cigarette smuggling were detected (over 351 thousand packs worth Br1.7 billion were seized, and in 16 cases, vehicles worth a total of about Br2.3 billion were confiscated).
The Vitebsk Customs Office was established on April 1, 1993, by transforming the Vitebsk Customs Post of the Minsk Customs Office. On September 1, 2002, as a result of reorganisation, the Orsha Customs Office was merged with the Vitebsk Customs Office. Since January 1, 2010, the Polotsk Customs Office underwent reorganisation, resulting in the inclusion of the Braslav, Verkhnedvinsk, and Novopolotsk customs posts into the Vitebsk Customs Office. Thus, since January 1, 2010, there has been only one customs office operating in the Vitebsk region. This is the only customs office in Belarus whose jurisdiction borders three states: Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia. The length of the state border in the region of operation of the Vitebsk Customs Office is 818 km, including with Russia -485 km, with Latvia - 164 km.-0-

News of Belarus (BELTA)