Six-hour customs clearance waiting time for outbound long haul trucks at checkpoints with Hungary

The drivers of long haul trucks on the outbound to Hungary have to put up with as long as six-hour waiting times, given that heavy traffic restrictions have been set in Hungary on the occasion of the Catholic holiday of Pentecost, the Border Police announced on its website. 

The waiting time is of 6 hours at the Petea border checkpoint, five and a half hours at the Bors checkpoint, six hours at Varsand and 2 hours at Nadlac. 

"As a result of the freight traffic restrictions imposed in Hungary between 19.05.2018, 23:00 hrs (Romania time) - 21.05.2018, 23:00 (Romania time), there is an increase in the number of long haul trucks on the outbound at the checkpoints with Hungary. Customs clearance procedures are jointly carried out with the Hungarian authorities, and the Border Police has supplemented their staff to cover all control lanes, but the number of lanes that can be opened is limited by the number of officers deployed by the Hungarian Police. As per the bilateral protocols, the Romanian Border Police can only open control lanes that are also manned by the Hungarian authorities," the Border Police states. 

More than 2,700 long haul trucks, of which about 2,100 on the outbound alone, have been given clearance since the lifting of restrictions (as of 21.05.2018, 23.00 hrs, Romania time) at the checkpoints on the western border of Romania located in the counties of Arad, Bihor and Satu Mare. 

The Border Police also mentions that the check time for a truck on the Romanian side is of 2 - 5 minutes on average and that the number of control lanes has been increased on the outbound to five at the Nadlac II checkpoint, three at Bors, two at Varsand, while the Nadlac checkpoint operates just one lane. Measures have also been taken for the efficient management of the situation, specifically for the prevention and combating of illegal cross-border activities.