New border crossing rules: Red channel if you have a suitcase

New rules for a thorough examination at border checkpoints took force on June 4.

Blogger Yuty Hubarevich published a photocopy of the document setting criteria for sending vehicles entering Belarus to the red channel for a thorough examination.

Only drivers with literally empty cars, even without a suitcase, can choose the green channel. The vehicles that already crossed the border for the last 8 days and all cars with foreign registration must choose the red channel.

The State Border Committee spoke to charter97.org and confirmed that a car must go through the red channel if it falls under new criteria.

The transcript of the photocopy:

The criteria giving grounds to border guards at road border checkpoints to inform customs officers about the vehicles entering the Republic of Belarus through the greed channel since June 4, 2013:

1. The vehicle has crossed the state border of the Republic of Belarus more than once for the last 8 days;

2. The vehicle carries four or more persons;

3. Bags, suitcases, packages, boxes, sacks, etc. that may contain goods, large-sized goods of long-term use, including used goods in the car or in the luggage compartment;

4. Vehicles with 8 or more seats (including the driver), cargo and passenger vehicles and cargo vehicles;

5. The vehicle is registered in a foreign country.

To fulfil the order:

If border guards detect a vehicle in the green channel falling under the above mentioned criteria, they must inform a customs officer and hand him a control ticket in accordance with clause 27 of the Instruction on coordination between state control bodies when moving people, vehicles and goods across the state border of the Republic of Belarus adopted by ruling No. 25/27 of the State Border Committee and the State Customs Committee on October 31, 2011.

The border crossing rules were already strengthened on November 28, 2011, when the Council of Ministers adopted a ruling allowing to go abroad by car once in 8 days. The ruling was signed to “tighten measures to limit the export of fuel from the country”. The restriction was applied to both drivers and vehicles. The clause of ruling No. 753 ordering not to apply restrictions to the people having work visas or going abroad for medical treatment was cancelled.