Two X-ray scanners were put into operation at Albita Customs on Tuesday, in the presence of Finance Minister Marcel Bolos and Romanian Customs Authority head Marcel Mutescu.
According to the authorities, one piece of equipment will be used to control vehicles and another, mobile, will be used to check trucks. These devices are intended to reduce tax evasion and illegal trafficking of drugs and dangerous substances, improve the security of the EU’s external border and optimise vehicle control at the border. A similar scanner was installed in May in Giurgiulesti, Galati County.
„Of course, we have a broader plan to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Customs Authority, because in addition to what we have now as the implementation of scanners, we intend by the end of the year to have operational the digitisation project known as E-Signature, through which over 2,000 such mobile seals will be part of the institutional capacity building of the Customs Authority, a project we consider important together with the one we are implementing today,” said Finance Minister Marcel Bolos.
According to the minister, nine of the 26 X-ray scanners purchased with EU funds will be put into operation this year. The devices will be operational at the most important border points in the country. The next equipment will be installed at other border crossing points in 2025 and 2026.
„With this project we hope to better and more effectively combat tax evasion, customs fraud and find undeclared goods or other prohibited goods hidden in means of transport. This project is one that for us, as an authority, has posed quite a few challenges, I am referring here mainly to the infrastructure part, the fact that we have enough space in customs offices. We often have to ask for help from the local administration to give us land so that we can expand the area of the border crossing points to be able to install this equipment. The equipment that you see scanning without people on board is high security equipment and the scanning will be based on risk analysis,” said Romanian Customs Authority head Marcel Mutescu.
The official of the Romanian Customs Authority also mentioned that scanning vehicles with the new equipment should reduce waiting times at border crossings.
AGERPRES
