Entry restriction to non-Polish citizens & suspension of international air & rail travel (13.03.2020)

From Sunday, 15 March, Poland will close its borders to foreigners. All Polish citizens who are presently abroad can return to their homeland. A number of exemptions exist for foreign residents. They will also undergo a compulsory 14-day home quarantine. International passenger air flights and international rail travel will be suspended.

Start date: 15.03.2020

End date: 10 days from starting date

Further information: https://www.gov.pl/web/coronavirus/travel

Temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of driving and rest times for the drivers

Poland has notified a temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of driving and rest times for the drivers involved in international freight and passenger transport. This relaxation is granted pursuant to Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.

Start date: 18.03.2020

End date: 16.04.2020

Further information: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/temporary-relaxatio..





17.04.2020

The Polish Ministry of Infrastructure relaxed rules on driving and rest times from 17 April to 31 May. Relaxations apply to drivers performing national and international road transport of goods and persons, and are as follows:

- the daily driving time may not exceed 11 hours (derogation of Article 6 (1)),

- the weekly driving time may not exceed 60 hours (derogation of Article 6 (2)),

- the total driving time over the next two weeks may not exceed 96 hours (derogation of Article 6 (3)),

- after a driving period of five and a half hours, the driver is entitled to a continuous break of at least forty-five minutes (derogation of Article 7),

- if a driver makes this choice, he can also use the regular weekly rest period in the vehicle, provided he has adequate sleeping facilities for each driver and the vehicle is stationary (derogation from Article 8 (8)).

Temporary derogations from the application of the provisions apply to drivers performing road haulage. Whereas, drivers performing road passenger transport are subject to the above-mentioned derogations, only in the case of transport carried out in connection with the return of citizens to their countries of residence.

According to the wording of the notification agreed with the European Commission:

- the drivers referred to above must indicate, on the back of the analogue tachograph record sheet or the digital tachograph printout, the derogation cases,

- the use of temporary derogations must not cause deterioration of drivers' working conditions and road safety levels.

Source: ZMPD

                                                                                                     

26.03.2020

In the ordinance dated 24 March 2020, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration has extended the period of border control at the internal border with Germany, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia by another 20 days, i.e. until 13 April. The current restrictions on the entry of foreigners into Poland will also be maintained.

Full text of the ordinance can be found here.

On 24 March, Polish Authorities amended the rules on mandatory quarantine: drivers engaged in international road transport operations using vehicles below 3.5 tonnes are not any longer subject to quarantine.

The provision entered into force immediately.

Source: ZMPD

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Restrictions

On 13 March, the Prime Minister of Poland announced a “state of emergency”. In addition to measures to limit public gatherings, the government announced that border controls will be temporarily restored from 15 March(00:00) for 10 days (renewable). During this period:

- Foreigners will not be allowed to enter Polish national territory. All air traffic and train movements coming from abroad will be temporarily suspended.

- Polish citizens and foreigners working in Poland that are returning from abroad must undergo a two week quarantine period.

- National bus, air and rail transport will operate normally.

- International road freight transport is not included in these restrictions. Borders remain open to the flow of goods and truck drivers operating international road freight will not have to comply with the two week quarantine period. The list of border crossing points open during this period is available here.

On 19 March, the Polish Minister of Health lifted the previous duty of fulfillment of driver localisation forms. In addition, according to information on the Border Guard website, quarantine is not imposed on:

- people living in Poland who work in a neighbouring country and who regularly cross the border (cross border workers).

- foreigners living in a neighbouring country who work in Poland and cross the border regularly (cross border workers).

- drivers engaged in the professional transport of goods and passengers.

Health checks are still taking place at border crossing points. Drivers with a temperature of above 38 degrees will automatically undergo a medical examination and will not be able to continue driving.

The updated border waiting times can be found here: www.granica.gov.pl.

Relieves

The Polish Minister of Transport has introduced a temporary relaxation of the enforcement of driving and rest times for drivers performing international road transport of passengers and goods. This exception applies from 18⁄03⁄2020 to 16⁄04⁄2020, included. The relaxation concerns only international transport and covers EU-registered hauliers only (not applicable to Contracting Parties of the AETR Agreement). Measures lifted are the following:

- Daily vehicle transport time cannot exceed 11 hours.

- The weekly transport time of the vehicle cannot exceed 60 hours.

- The total transport time of the vehicle over a consecutive two week period may not exceed 96 hours.

- After a five and a half hour period of driving, the driver shall be entitled to a continuous break of at least forty-five minutes.

Due to the extended transport time of the vehicle, from 9 to 11 hours, no derogations will be applied on daily and weekly rest periods.

Source: ZMPD