The projects of bilateral cooperation between the customs services of Moldova and Romania bring about significant results at this stage, pave the way for extending the European integration of Moldova in the field and offer important benefits to the people from both sides of the Moldova-EU border. Such conclusions were formulated in a news conference held jointly by the director general of the Customs Service of Moldova Vitalie Vrabie and director general of the General Customs Directorate of Romania Claudiu Ardeleanu, IPN reports.
According to Vitalie Vrabie, the meeting he had with his Romanian counterpart before the press conference was very important for strengthening cooperation on the common border, especially through the angle of the integration perspectives and aspirations of Moldova, in accordance with the Association Agreement signed with the EU. “I discussed with Mister Ardeleanu the efficiency of implementing the bilateral cooperation plan of December 28, 2015, which significantly contributed to intensifying the anti-fraud and transfrontier traffic facilitation measures. In the first quarter of this year alone, the Customs Service identified four cases of customs fraud. We agreed with the Romanian colleagues on the necessity of implementing an electronic data contraposition mechanism in the future,” he stated.
Another subject of conversation was the pilot project on joint control at the Cahul-Oancea border crossing point and the recognition of the business entities authorized in the EU at the Leuseni-Albita border crossing point. “We agreed with the Romanian colleagues to hasten the finalization of the reference terms project and to submit it to the European Commission for approval,” said Vitalie Vrabie.
He noted that the first phase of the pilot project to recognize the EU operators at the Leuseni-Albita border crossing point was implemented and it was decided to extend the project by six months. Since the project was launched, 16 companies from the EU that possess the certificate of authorized business entity have benefited from the concessions provided by the Leuseni checkpoint. It is planned to recognize also the Moldovan authorized companies that export goods to the EU.
According to Claudiu Ardeleanu, the extended cooperation between the two services is a bilateral as well as a European and global necessity. “It is a globalized, interconnected, informatized world. Everyone wants things to be done swiftly and well. Everyone wants to cross the border speedily and to benefit from high quality services,” he noted. He expressed his confidence that the implemented joint projects will produce results and will contribute to removing the unjustified barriers to people’s travel and to trade.
Claudiu Ardeleanu specified the joint control mechanism working at the Cahul-Oancea border crossing point. “The colleagues from Moldova, from the Customs Service and the Border Police, will carry out this activity on Romania’s territory at one filter. What does this mean? The travelers, when crossing the border, will not have to wait at two barriers. We plan that this project will start to be implemented after January 1 next year,” he said.
The director general of the Customs Service of Moldova also said that more than 300,000 people crossed the Cahul-Oancea joint border crossing point in 2015. From next year, this point will enjoy significant concessions.
The two chiefs voiced hope that the Cahul-Oancea project could be soon extended to cover another two-three border crossing points.
