”Nothing will change when it comes to the transport of goods from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia and Montenegro, ” claims the Croatian Customs Administration and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce to Radio Free Europe (RSE).
They said this a day after that country, on December 8th, became the 27th member state of the Schengen duty-free and visa-free area of European countries.
“In connection with the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the full Schengen area, we inform you that nothing changes at the external border with third countries in relation to the customs procedures relevant for the entry of goods,” states the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance of Croatia.
The Croatian Customs Administration has been operating at 13 border customs offices on the external border of the European Union (EU) since July 1st, 2013. Since then, customs supervision has been carried out, as they state, in accordance with EU customs regulations.
The answer from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce is identical: “For carriers from third countries, everything remains the same as before. At the external borders of the EU, i.e. Croatia’s borders with Serbia, BiH, and Montenegro, they will undergo border and customs control as before, with the exception that there will no longer be border controls between Croatia and Slovenia, and between Croatia and Hungary.“
Next year, the existing problem of limited stay in the Schengen zone for Serbian professional drivers and transport companies will increase, Aleksandar Spasic, Secretary General of the International Transport Business Association, explained.
“When Croatia enters Schengen, the Serbian driver literally leaves Serbia in front of the house and automatically starts to count down those 90 days. Until now, this was not the case, and in Croatia we managed to save some of that time,” said Spasic.
None of the competent institutions and contacted shipping companies in Montenegro responded to journalist’s inquiry regarding the expected changes in the movement of goods and people after Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area.
After the abolition of land and sea borders with the rest of the EU, it is planned that on March 26th next year, Croatia will also abolish air traffic controls with EU countries at airports.
The countries of the Schengen area carry out checks on goods and people entering and leaving the area, but they do not have internal border controls, RSE reports.
E.Dz.
