Poland and Finland join the Baltic Customs Initiative
On 9 May 2024, in Vilnius, the Heads of customs authorities of five European Union countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland – signed an agreement on the application of uniform control measures related to the implementation of sanctions.
“Lithuania has been recognised as a leader in mobilising forces from the Member States of the European Union to prevent supply routes for the russian war machine. Lithuania’s proposal – targeted measures to be applied uniformly in all Member States of the European Union – is receiving increasing support. Agreements between the customs authorities of the countries would prevent any circumvention of sanctions,” Rūta Bilkštytė, Vice-Minister of Finance, says.
On 26 January this year, the Heads of customs authorities of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia approved the Baltic region’s agreement on uniform sanctions control measures in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Today, this regional agreement has been further expanded.
“The Lithuanian Customs, when enforcing international sanctions against russia and Belarus, has applied one of the most stringent measures to avoid circumventing those sanctions. Lithuania has consistently strived for reducing the risk of circumvention of sanctions also in all EU Member States. We are pleased that Latvia and Estonia joined our initiative in January this year. And now Poland and Finland have signed this agreement," Darius Žvironas, Director General of the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, stated.
The customs authorities of the signatory countries will strengthen control on goods subject to export prohibitions and restrictions and apply uniform measures such as, for example, requiring the presentation to customs of a document or information, known as the manufacturer’s declaration, issued by the manufacturer of the exported or re-exported goods. The customs authorities will also require other documents that deny the possibility of entry of the goods into russia or other likelihood of circumvention of sanctions.
Currently, in Lithuania, if the persons do not provide the aforementioned additional documents and information proving that there is no risk of circumvention of sanctions, the Lithuanian customs does not allow customs procedures to be carried out on the goods submitted. After the Agreement, a similar practice will be applied to the customs offices of the signatory countries.
"Additional risk mitigation measures applied by the Lithuanian Customs have been applied from June 2023. Statistical data shows that from 2023 exports from Lithuania to Central Asian countries decreased. This confirms that the measures to prevent circumvention of sanctions applied by the Lithuanian Customs are effective," D. Žvironas, Head of the Lithuanian Customs, says.
International trade statistics show that EU exports to russia and Belarus have decreased since 2022, while exports to Central Asian countries have increased accordingly. Statistics confirm that the EU’s restrictive measures do not fully achieve their objective as long as they do not apply to Central Asian countries and other countries in the customs union with russia.
