Belarus tightening cargo customs control at border with Russia

MINSK. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Customs control of goods along the Belarusian-Russian border has been strengthened, Belarusian State Customs Committee Chairman Vladimir Orlovsky said.

"Inspection equipment is available at the crossing points at the western border and is used broadly as usual. Vehicles, both trucks and cars, and people's luggage are scanned. We have been using it very effectively for a long time. We have recently expanded this practice to cargo heading eastward," Orlovsky said in an interview with the Belarus 1 state-run television channel.

"We are currently doing this in Minsk, but plan to deploy such scanners at our eastern customs terminals, in the Vitebsk and Mogilev districts as well," he said.

This decision has been taken "because the Russian-Belarusian border accounts for the bulk of cargo traffic today," he said.

"Though the goods are foreign, they are imported through the Russian section. Therefore, we are taking measures on this route as well," he said.