OREANDA-NEWS. July 21, 2009. Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus Alexander Shpilevsky and Chairman of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Anatoly Makarenko have signed the protocol of the first meeting of the Belarus-Ukraine working group for customs cooperation. The meeting was held at the Vystupovichi-Novaya Rudnya crossing point on 14 July. The chiefs of the customs authorities of the two countries met at the Novaya Guta-Novye Yarylovichi crossing point in the Gomel region on 21 July.

Anatoly Makarenko stated that signing of the protocol is the result of the intensive work of the customs services of the two countries on establishing prior information exchange on goods and vehicles moved across the Belarus-Ukraine border and on simplifying customs procedures. The protocol containing six articles also envisages preparing and carrying out an exhibition of Belarusian goods in Ukraine in September 2009.

Positive experience of the Belarusian customs will be considered and studied by the Ukrainian experts and possibly put into practice in the future. Anatoly Makarenko stressed that Ukrainian customs officers need to look into the Belarusian experience of e-declaration of goods.

The head of the customs service of Ukraine praised high efficiency of the Novaya Guta crossing point and its comfortable conditions both for customs services and also for the people crossing the border. Ukraine plans to complete the reconstruction of its part of the Novye Yarylovichi crossing point by 2010. Once up and operational, the new facility will be able to process increased transit flows, Anatoly Makarenko said.

Anatoly Makarenko accepted the invitation of his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Shpilevsky to get familiar with the operation of the Belarusian crossing points on the border with the Baltic countries. There is a need to learn from European partners, yet the experience of the neighbours might be as useful, Anatoly Makarenko noted.