“In the first seven months of this year, when full customs control was not in place, we detected on average 22 violations per day. After implementing full customs controls, this number has fallen to 18. This demonstrates that the implementation of full customs control is a clear preventative message for those crossing the border,” said Ursula Riimaa, the Deputy Director General for Customs at the ETCB. “While the number of violations has decreased, it remains worryingly high and customs officials are working every day on both goods controls and awareness-raising.”
In total, the ETCB has detected 399 violations at the Narva border crossing point, 100 violations at Luhamaa border crossing point and 84 violations at Koidula border crossing point.
According to Riimaa, the transition to full customs control was an important step to ensure application of international sanctions and to prevent the movement of prohibited goods, including items used for warfare, to Russia. “Since the implementation of sanctions, the ETCB’s customs officials have prevented a significant number of goods subject to sanctions from reaching Russia. As in the past, prohibited goods such as parts and accessories of firearms, spare parts for vehicles and machinery, batteries and propeller blades for drones, radio receivers, underwater camera and diving computer have been detected in the last month.”
According to Riimaa, the most frequent violations at border crossing points continue to be attempts to take euro banknotes to Russia. “It is forbidden to take the banknotes of the Member States of the EU to Russia, and although the European Commission has pointed out certain possibilities for exceptions without specifying any thresholds in terms of amounts, the euro is not an official means of payment in Russia, which is why we ask those who cross the border to focus on the current prohibition, not the exception, in order to avoid any problems.”
In addition, repeated violations, several commodity code errors in a customs declaration, falsifications of documents, etc. were detected during this month. “With regard to the latter, the Luhamaa border crossing point stood out in particular,” Riimaa pointed out and emphasised that deliberate violation of sanctions is a crime, in which case criminal proceedings are conducted by the Estonian Internal Security Service and the proceedings are led by the prosecutor's office.
The ETCB reminds those crossing the border that before crossing the border, one should look into international sanctions in order to avoid carrying prohibited goods. Further information can be found from the website of the Tax and Customs Board or from customs information line. In addition, as full customs controls take more time than risk-based controls, the ETCB asks to set aside more time for crossing the border. According to Riimaa, this means, for example, that although the time of summer holidays is coming to an end and the number of border crossings shows a downward trend, it is worth taking into account the possibility that upon arriving at the Narva border crossing point late at night, crossing the border may be possible only in the morning. “Narva border crossing point is open from 7:00 to 23:00, Luhamaa and Koidula border crossing points are open 24 hours a day,” Riimaa explained.
Until 8 August 2024, the ETCB carried out checks on goods crossing the border in the outbound direction based on risks, which included an automatic risk analysis and being selected for customs checks based on either the decision of an official or random selection. Using these methods, more than 100 000 customs controls have been carried out and more than 10 000 violations detected since 2022, when international sanctions were imposed and the full-scale war started. In accordance with the government's decision and the ETCB's risk assessment, a seamless transition to full customs control was carried out as of 8 August.
