At the CEFTA Coordination Body on-line meeting the representatives of the CEFTA Parties endorsed the list of the essential goods. Transport and trade of essential goods will be given priority with respect to the other goods via “green lanes”. The traffic flow shall be guaranteed through 24/7 operations at the designated crossing points where custom and other required proceedings shall be performed in the most efficient way for all goods, giving priority to the essential goods.
As part of the measures to be undertaken to mitigate disruptions in transport and trade of goods caused by precautionary measures taken to ensure containing of COVID-19 outbreak, CEFTA Parties instructed the Secretariat to undertake necessary actions to facilitate transport and trade of all goods, but in particular to prioritize import of the essential goods. The EU funded System of Electronic Exchange of Data (SEED),which supports the electronic exchange of pre-arrival information between customs administrations within CEFTA has been upgraded. The SEED will be used to electronically send the information about the arrival of priority consignments in advance to all agencies involved in clearance of goods, so that the agencies can prepare in advance and that those consignments can be given priority passage. This will accelerate the process of clearance of goods of first necessity.
The CEFTA list of the essential goods contains the food and feed essential products and the World Customs Organisation list of the medical supplies. Depending on the needs of the Parties the list of the essential goods may be reassessed and modified.
The green lane concept implementation will start on 13 April 2020 at the designated crossing points providing required services 24/7,and will gradually expand as the other designated crossing points fulfil required conditions.
The meeting gathered the representatives of the customs administration and the ministries in charge of trade of the CEFTA Parties, the CEFTA Secretariat, the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Community and Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF).
The CEFTA list of the essential goods is available here.
Funded by the European Union