In August there were attempts to bring over the border to Latvia from Belarus 22 080 kg of wood briquettes, 22 800 kg of used wooden railway beams, as well as nails, as reported by State Revenue Service (VID).
Since the coming into force of European Union’s legislative acts, VID Customs Office has been carefully monitoring imports and exports of all goods under sanctions.
Attempts to circumvent sanctions by declaring goods with fake bar codes were found on 3rd and 17th August 2022 on border checkpoints on Latvian-Belarusian border.
Details of the case were submitted to VID Tax and Customs Police to commence investigation and criminal prosecution.
The list of goods under sanctions includes several groups. For example, it if prohibited to import from Belarus goods like lumber and its products, fertilizers, new wheel tires, petrol products, cement, concrete, stone products, iron and steel products.
A total of 2 073 units of freight were turned around and a total of 1 238 potential breaches of sanctions have been registered in Latvia between spring 2022 and end of July.
VID Tax and Customs Police commenced a total of 32 criminal procedures for breaches of sanctions imposed by international organisations and the Republic of Latvia.