Formation of the Customs Union and the scrapping of customs barriers allowed an increase of migration, transport and freighting flows on the southern borders of Russia and Kazakhstan over 1.5-fold, head of the Border Directorate of the FSB of Astrakhan Region and Kalmykia, Nikolai Panchenko, said, RIA Novosti reports.
The Customs Union came into force on July 1. About 1.1 people and 150,000 vehicles passed the border in 2010 and 1.6 million people and over 250,000 vehicles passed in 2011.
There were no illegal border crossings because the article for smuggling of the Criminal Code was dropped off. There were only four cases of narcotics-smuggling.
There are plans for more simplification of border crossing so that people will not need to undergo customs operations twice. The process will most likely start in the Aksaraysky railway control post. The Russian and Kazakh authorities will determine the measures to simplify customs operations by April 1. Joint work will start in Q2 2012.
