18.03.2020: informații actualizate privind măsurile luate în următoarele state în contextul COVID–19: Estonia, Finlanda, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Marea Britanie, Polonia, Tadjikistan, Ungaria
Estonia
The government has decided to restrict the crossing of the Schengen internal and external border temporarily, and to reintroduce border controls in order to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Only citizens of Estonia and holders of Estonian residency permits (or rights of residence) can enter Estonia, as well as foreign citizens with family members living in the country.
International road freight is exempt.
Foreigners are allowed to transit Estonia if travelling to their home country as long as they are not showing symptoms of COVID-19.
At the border control, travel documents and medical symptoms will be checked.
There are no restrictions for exiting the country.
The border control was reintroduced on 17 March 2020. The temporary restriction of border crossing will be in force until further notice, and the situation will be reviewed every two weeks.
Source:ERAA
Finlanda
The Finnish government is restricting traffic at the borders from 19/3, 00.00. People returning to Finland will be subject to 14 days quarantine.
Inbound passenger transport operations are suspended, except for citizens and residents returning to Finland. Finnish citizens and residents must not travel abroad.
Necessary travel for work and to access other necessary services will be permitted across the northern and western borders. Freight and goods traffic will continue as usual.
Detailed measures are available here.
Source: FinMobility
Georgia
Government of Georgia Rules New Measures to Prevent COVID-19 Influx 2020-03-16
Inter-Agency Coordination Council of the Government of Georgia made following new decisions within the scope of preventing novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) influx in the country:
1. Citizens of foreign countries will be denied of entry into the country at the sovereign border of Georgia for two weeks from March 18, 2020;
2. Ski resorts of Georgia are closing down for a temporary period of time throughout the country;
3. Cafes, restaurants and bars are recommended to restrict direct service rendering to their customers on a temporary basis and to only accept the take-away orders;
4. A mechanism is being established at the Government Administration to monitor the execution of decisions made by the Inter-Agency Coordination Council of the Government of Georgia;
5. Individuals aged over 70 are recommended to strictly keep away from places of public gathering and to stay in isolation to the extent possible to avoid a potential threat to their personal health.
Head of Government of Georgia noted that 4 dimensions of critical significance exist, which need to be managed effectively to ultimately affect our ability to combat the challenge. These are: healthcare, economy, logistics and stock management, public order.
33 individuals are infected as of today and health condition in the majority of cases is satisfactory.
Condition of each patient is stable and they are undergoing the applicable medical treatment.
Coordination Council was briefed that 637 individuals are quarantined at present and 54 remain under monitoring and surveillance at healthcare facilities of the country.
Decree No. 540 of the Government of Georgia dated March 16, 2020
(updated The Resolution No. 164 of the Government of Georgia dated January 28, 2020,) amends:
Entering the country (designated by the WHO as a high risk zone) of trucks transported from the areas of the coronavirus spread, in case if the driver of the truck is replaced by another person who does not belong to the risk group (including those coming from the coronavirus transmission areas) and the following conditions will be met:
Under the supervision of the authorized person of the customs authority proper disinfection of the truck will be carried out;
Driver of a truck (a person who was driving a vehicle at the customs border of Georgia) will be subject to return (foreign citizen) or quarantine / placement in the relevant medical institution due to clinical condition;
Replacement of the truck carrier with a carrier that is not considered to be at risk of spreading the coronavirus.
At the same time, under the supervision of the authorized person of the customs authority, proper disinfection of the truck carrier of the freight vehicle will be carried out (Truck carrier used for transportation to the customs territory of Georgia) return;
From Azerbaijan and the republic of Armenia through March 14, 2020, as well as via the Russian Federation on the land / checkpoints,
And from 00:00 pm March 18, 2020, from all other countries - within 2 weeks, only Georgian citizens and their family members may enter Georgia;
In accordance with the decisions of the executive authorities of the republic of Azerbaijan, the republic of Armenia, as well as the Russian Federation, in the republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia, also, only citizens of the relevant country (Azerbaijan or the republic of Armenia or the Russian Federation) and their family members with the right to leave the territory of Georgia through the Russian customs check-points are allowed to leave the territory of Georgia.
International land freight transportation to the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia or the Russian Federation on the territory of Georgia Is carried out smoothly, in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations and under the control of the responsible authorities;
The established restrictions do not apply to:
• Representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia, representatives of international organizations and their family members;
• Georgian citizen family members, regardless of their citizenship;
• Humanitarian missions - if the need arises for such a mission (doctors, volunteers, etc.);
• Stateless person in Georgia;
• Persons with a neutral ID and / or a neutral travel document;
• Persons with refugee status in Georgia;
• On members of official delegations, In case of appropriate decision making;
• Drivers involved in international freight transportation, personnel involved in international rail transportation, relating to the carriage of cargoes on the railway and the crew members of the aircraft.
Source: GIRCA
Kazakhstan
Following a state of emergency declared in Kazakhstan, effective from 08.00, 16 March, the State Border Service has provided guideline for entities involved in import/export operation.
During the emergency period, crossing the states borders by drivers and vehicles engaged in international road transport operations will be allowed only if they meet the following conditions:
- international goods transport by road is performed in compliance with the quarantine and sanitary-epidemiological standards;
- drivers, regardless of citizenship, must use foreign passports to cross the state border;
- in case of arrival at the border crossing point for entry to the territory of Kazakhstan (including for transit) of drivers from countries of categories 1a) and 1b), as well as drivers of other countries who visited countries in categories 1a) and 1b) within last 15 days, cargo will be allowed for entry only if a driver is replaced at the territory of the border crossing point in compliance with quarantine and sanitary-epidemiological standards or the truck(tractor) is replaced with a Kazakh one.
The border crossing points listed here have been specified for international road transport of goods.
Source:KAZATO (https://www.kazato.kz/posts/chrezvychajnoe-polozhenie-v-ps-knb-sdelali-zayavlenie)
Marea Britanie
On March 17th, the government has taken new measures, which include advising British nationals against all non-essential international travel.
The advice against non-essential travel is not intended to apply to international and domestic freight transport. Thus, haulage continues under no extra restrictions in the UK officially.
A guidance note on Coronavirus (Covid-19) and freight transport has been published by the UK Department for Transport
Sources: RHA and FTA
Polonia
On 13 March, the Prime Minister of Poland announced a “state of emergency”. In addition to measures to limit public gatherings, the government announced that border controls will be temporarily restored from 15 March(00:00) for 10 days (renewable). During this period:
- Foreigners will not be allowed to enter Polish national territory. All air traffic and train movements coming from abroad will be temporarily suspended.
- Polish citizens and foreigners working in Poland that are returning from abroad must undergo a two week quarantine period.
- National bus, air and rail transport will operate normally.
- International road freight transport is not included in these restrictions. Borders remain open to the flow of goods and truck drivers operating international road freight will not have to comply with the two week quarantine period. The list of border crossing points open during this period is available here.
Please also be informed that truck drivers entering Poland have to complete specific forms. Templates of these forms are available in English, Russian and Ukrainian here. To accelerate the completion of the border checks, it is recommended to complete these forms before reaching the borders.
Health checks are also taking place at border crossing points. Drivers with a temperature of above 38 degrees will automatically undergo a medical examination and will not be able to continue driving.
Due to the volume of traffic, the waiting times at borders will be significantly longer. The updated border waiting times can be found here: www.granica.gov.pl.
Derogations of the regulations on driving and rest times:
The Polish Minister of Transport has introduced a temporary relaxation of the enforcement of driving and rest times for drivers performing international road transport of passengers and goods. This exception applies from 18⁄03⁄2020 to 16⁄04⁄2020. Measures lifted are the following:
- Daily vehicle transport time cannot exceed 11 hours.
- The weekly transport time of the vehicle cannot exceed 60 hours.
- The total transport time of the vehicle over a consecutive two week period may not exceed 96 hours.
- After a five and a half hour period of driving, the driver shall be entitled to a continuous break of at least forty-five minutes.
Due to the extended transport time of the vehicle, from 9 to 11 hours, no derogations will be applied on daily and weekly rest periods.
Source:ZMPD
Tadjikistan
Since January 2020, the border between Tajikistan and China – Kulma-Karasu, has been completely closed.
From 11 March 2020, Tajikistan began closing its borders with Afghanistan. The last checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan (Nizhny-Pyanj) was closed on 16 March 2020.
According to official data, the spread of Coronavirus has not been detected in Tajikistan, and in this regard the borders between Tajikistan-Uzbekistan and Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan are currently operating normally.
For more information please check the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan - https://mfa.tj/.
Source:ABBAT
UNGARIA
Hungary has closed its internal and external borders with effect from 00:00 17 March. Hungarian citizens and close relatives travelling with them (including those not resident in Hungary) will still be allowed to enter the country.
The situation at border crossing points is available here.
Source:MKFE
