Continuation of border traffic advance booking service planned

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has called for comments on a proposal to amend the Act on Transport Services. The amendment will enable a continuation of the advance booking service for border traffic at Vaalimaa in south-eastern Finland, and enlargement of the service to include other road border crossing points between Finland and Russia.

Processing of personal data and the responsibilities of various participants in managing and directing cross-border traffic would also be clarified. The system could also be developed in future by enabling automatic identification of registration plates.

The advance booking service ensures a smooth flow of goods transport, together with associated customs measures and border controls at crossing points on Finland's eastern border. A need arose during the first decade of this century to streamline border traffic in order to eliminate heavy goods vehicle queues several tens of kilometres long that were forming at Vaalimaa.

Launched on a trial basis in 2014, the cross-border booking and queuing system tested how advance booking could balance heavy goods vehicle traffic volumes, reduce queuing, streamline traffic and improve road safety. The advance booking service enables heavy goods vehicle drivers to reserve a time window in advance for border inspections. The pilot project achieved the assigned goals for streamlining freight transport.

The statutory amendment and proposal to continue the advance booking service for border traffic will implement the Government programme objective of eliminating bottlenecks in freight transport.

What are the next steps?

The consultation period on the draft statute will end on 3 May 2021.

All organisations and members of the public may submit statements online at www.lausuntopalvelu.fi or by e-mailing [email protected].

Ministry officials will continue preparing the statutory proposal after the consultation round is completed. The amendments are scheduled to take effect on 1 July 2021.

For further details, please contact:

Matleena Kurki-Suutarinen, Senior Government Adviser , tel. +358 29 534 2042