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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky visit the Kozlovichi-2 border checkpoint for freight in Brest, on the border between Belarus and Poland

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The Kozlovichi-2 border checkpoint, which opened around three months ago, will assume customs duties for the external border of the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on July 1, 2011.

The checkpoint is located on the international M1-E30 highway, which according to Brest customs bureau head Yuri Brytkov handles 80% of all vehicles travelling between Europe and the CIS. Russia is the destination for 70% of these vehicles. Mr Brytkov also said that despite the financial crisis, traffic through Kozlovichi had increased 15% compared with the first two months of 2009.

The Russian and Belarusian heads of government were shown how modern methods allowed customs officers to carry out customs and phytosanitary inspections of goods without unloading them from lorries.

Customs officers said that currently only 1.5% of goods that pass through the checkpoint are inspected physically, as compared to 3% in Europe. Most goods - over 90% - are processed through a system of electronic declaration.

Mr Brytkov said that it had been possible to reduce physical inspections thanks to a risk management system used jointly by Russian and Belarusian customs officers, in which officers obtain advance information on all legal entities involved in foreign business, including information on any previous violations.

Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sidorsky subsequently inspected the interior of the new Kozlovichi-2 terminal, which houses all the border control services, including the customs, transport, veterinary, insurance and banking services

Mr Brytkov said that customs paperwork for goods was processed as quickly as possible and that vehicles spent an average of two hours at the Kozlovichi checkpoint. Besides the time for processing documents, these two hours also include the time for radiation screening, weighing the vehicle and inspecting the driving compartment.

"We don't have queues at this checkpoint any more," said Mr Brytkov.

Customs officers also showed the prime ministers the modern equipment used by customs and border officials at the adjacent checkpoint for automobiles, including passport verification equipment.