The people will be able to report acts of corruption in customs at a common Call Center that was launched by the Customs Service on August 1. The people and companies will use the same phone number - (+373 22) 574 111 – to obtain information about the customs rules. The calls can be made from fixed-line or mobile phones at an ordinary charge, from any settlement of Moldova and from abroad, IPN reports.

Natalia Calenic, head of the Customs Service’s Strategic Management Division, told a news conference that until now the people were able to ask for information and to report acts of corruption on several phone numbers. A single number was needed in order to optimize the process.

The Call Center’s operators will provide information about the procedure for declaring goods and units of transport, the conditions of granting tax concessions on goods imported by private individuals for personal purposes, the rules of declaring foreign currency, the restrictions on bringing units of transport into the country and other customs-related issues of interest.

The hotline will work from Monday through Friday, between 8am and 5pm. The operators will answer in Romanian, Russian, and English. For the first time, the people will be able to communicate with the Customs Service through Skype.

Tudor Dabija, deputy head of the Customs Service’s Incomes and Customs Control Department, said that most often the persons call to obtain information about the road tax, crossing of the border by units of transport on a temporary basis, the documents that must be presented when importing particular things.

Senior Internal Security Division inspector Rodica Cojocaru said that 25 calls to report acts of corruption, abuses of power and conflicts of interest were made in the first six months of this year.

Informative brochures about the Call Center can be obtained at all the border crossing points and internal customs posts.