Page History

06.04.2020

Measures taken by the General Directorate of Customs of the Czech Republic
regarding the COVID-19 outbreak

Since the beginning of the declared COVID-19 state of emergency on 12 March, the General
Directorate of Customs of the Czech Republic follows closely the Government decisions,
instructions from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Interior and other institutions.

Special attention is paid regarding legal instruments, instructions, notes and recommendations
from the European Commission which apply in the whole European Union.

Internally, the General Directorate of Customs informs all staff about relevant decisions and
instructs about necessary procedure to be followed. All instructions are regularly updated and
published on the internal website of the Customs administration.

Externally, the General Directorate of Customs publishes information on its website
www.celnisprava.cz and deals individually with relevant stakeholders (government and other
state and institutions, transport operators, companies…).

In order to prevent the further expansion of the COVID-19 epidemic and, on the other hand, to remain operational and continue performance of customs activities, the General Directorate of Customs adopted the following measures in connection with the state of emergency which
apply for all customs procedures:

- Health protection and safety – use of personal protective equipment, hygiene and
disinfection measures;
- Restriction on movement of persons within the public areas of Customs offices (entry
to the building upon demand, body temperature checks);
- Limitation of direct contact with declarants and drivers (isolated rooms for storage and
distribution of mail and other documents, where possible, documents are sent
electronically);
- Protection based on the social distancing principle (change of shifts for customs
officers, teleworking where possible);
- Flexibility towards extension of time-limits, deadlines and validity of documents,
certificates and declarations;
- Temporary export restrictions on certain categories of critical medical supplies (such
as medicines, disinfection and protective equipment);
- Reliefs from customs duty and taxes for the import or temporary admission of medical,
surgical and laboratory equipment in line with the current legal provisions;
- Facilitation of customs procedures and customs formalities in line with the current legal
provisions;
- Recommendation to use simplifications.

Practical implementation of the measures and further facilitation depends on the facilities and
overall situation at each Customs office.

Until today, the General Directorate of Customs has not identified any serious problem or
obstacles affecting the proper functioning of all customs procedures. At this moment of time,
there are on-going efforts to manage the current difficult situation while ensuring compliance
with the legal obligations.

Introduction of priority lanes for priority transfer for the carriage of goods (20.03.2020)

The Czech Republic has introduced so called “priority lanes” for priority transfers for carriage of medical, sanitary materials and devices, live animals, perishable goods, mail and fuel designated for the continuous supply of fuel stations on border sections of its main motorways D1, D2, D5, D8 and D11 between the Czech Republic and its neighbouring states Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

Start date: 19.03.2020

End date: not available

Further information: https://www.mdcr.cz/Media/Media-a-tiskove-zpravy/Od-soboty-plati-mimorad...

Entry restriction to non-Czech nationals and travel restriction from the Czech Republic (15.03.2020)

From midnight from Sunday 15/03 to Monday 16/03, the ban to entry is extended to all foreigners, not only from high risk epidemic countries. Foreigners residing in the Czech Republic with temporary residence over 90 days or permanent residence are excluded from this measure. Further, the ban to travel from the Czech Republic will apply on citizens of the Czech Republic and persons with permanent or temporary residence over 90 days. In addition a number exceptions are valid to these travel restrictions (Government Resolution No. 203 of 13 March 2020)

Start date: 16.03.2020

End date: not available

Further information: https://www.mvcr.cz/mvcren/article/traveling-during-the-state-of-emergen...

19.05.2020

Following the end of the state of emergency on 17 May, from 18 May - the weekend and holiday driving bans have been fully reintroduced in the Czech Republic for trucks and combination vehicles with a MPW of over 7.5t, and trucks and special vehicles with trailers if the MPW of the motor vehicle exceeds 3.5t.

Source: CESMAD

12.05.2020

As of 00:00 on 11 May, new rules came into force at Czech borders. All foreign nationals are banned from entry; foreigners with a permanent residence permit, foreigners with a temporary residence permit over 90 days and people working in international transport are exempted from the provision.

The following categories are included in the definition of “people working in international transport” and benefit from the exemption:

·       Truck drivers (drivers’ assistants are not considered to be drivers, therefore the exemption does not apply to them)

·       Bus drivers (especially those driving repatriation buses)

·       Road managers’ vehicle crews

·       Aircraft crews

·       Train drivers, train crews and carriage inspectors

·       Ship captains and cargo vessel crews

·       Drivers of vehicles of up to 9 passengers who are transporting one of the above categories of people to their place of work and back, and the empty journeys associated with those transportations. The driver must be employed in the same company as the people he/she is transporting.

·       Third party drivers of vehicles of up to 9 passengers, subject to certain conditions

·       Accompanying vehicles of abnormal load transport (supporting documentation must be provided by the carrier or the organisation responsible for transport)

Full communication can be read here

Source: CESMAD

29.04.2020

On 29 April, the Czech government has prolonged the state of emergency until 17 May 2020. Exemptions from driving restrictions have been extended accordingly.

Source: CESMAD

18.04.2020

The Czech government granted relaxations on driving and rest times rules.

Relaxations apply from 15 April until 31 May to all drivers involved in national and international transport of goods being performed within Czech territory and are as follows:

-      Art. 6.1: increase of the maximum daily driving limit from 9 hours to 11 hours

-      Art. 6.2: increase of the maximum weekly driving limit from 56 hours to 60 hours

-      Art. 6.3: increase of the fortnightly driving limit from 90 hours to 100 hours

-      Art. 8.1: reduction of the daily rest requirement from 11 hours to 9 hours

-      Art. 8.6: postponement of a weekly rest period beyond six-24 hours period

-      Art. 8.8: possibility for the driver to take the regular weekly rest in the vehicle, provided that the vehicle is stationary and it has suitable sleeping facilities.

Source: CESMAD

09.04.2020

The applicable driving restrictions on Sundays and Public Holidays are lifted during the period of state emergency

27.03.2020

Prohibition to overtake on some sections of the CZ road network

From 19 March 2020 for a period of 60 days, the border sections of the D1, D2, D5, D8 and D11 motorways are affected by the following restriction:

In the direction of the border crossing points, lorries over 3.5 tonnes are prohibited from overtaking.

Exceptions to this prohibition are vehicles used in:

a)     The carriage of perishable goods, at least half the volume of the cargo space of a vehicle or combination of vehicles.

b)     The transport of live animals.

c)     Carriage of fuel intended for petrol stations.

d)     Carriage of postal items.

e)     The transport of medical and biological material, medicines and material for their manufacture.

The reason for this restriction is to reduce queues at border crossing points and give preference to essential transport.

The restriction applies to the following sections of road:

·        Highway D1 from km 366,300 to the right (direction of state border).

·        Highway D2 from km 35,000 to the right (direction of the state border).

·        Highway D5 from km 136,300 to the right (direction of parking).

·        D8 motorway from km 86,900 to the right (direction of the state border) and from the state border to km 88,200 to the left (direction Prague, due to checks by the Czech Republic police).

Source: CESMAD-Bohemia

Members are reminded of the wide exemption from 561/2006 on the Czech territory. There is a critical situation on the CZ/SK borders due to drivers taking the 45 min. rest in the right lane blocking the access to the border crossing. Drivers are asked to take the rest elsewhere or to postpone it.


Source: CESMAD Bohemia and Czech Police