MINSK, 11 November (BelTA) – Belarusian parliamentarians ratified a Belarusian-Polish intergovernmental agreement on local border traffic at a sitting of the sixth session of the House of Representatives on 11 November, BelTA has learned. Belarus believes it will be able to start executing the Belarusian-Polish local border traffic agreement in April 2011, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Voronetsky said at the sitting. In his words, the agreement simplifies border crossing for Belarusian and Polish citizens that live 30km far from the border. If part of the inhabited locality is situated between 30km and 50km far from the border, the new rules still apply to the locality. The list of the communities the agreement applies to is attached. The new rules apply to people that have lived in the near-border area for at least three years. They will be able to use the new border crossing procedure after getting a ?20 permit and producing an identification document. Permits are issued for 2-5 years and allow their holders to stay in the other country for up to 90 days within half a year. The Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister underlined that those that cross the border using the special permits will not be able to leave the near-border territories. Exceptions will be made for those that need a certificate to confirm they have lost, damaged or destroyed the permit or valid travel documents. According to the official, the agreement will positively influence the bilateral relations between Belarus and Poland. It will allow stepping up economic cooperation in the territories close to the border as well as contacts between representatives of local self-government institutions and business circles. Transboundary trade will develop along with personal and intercultural ties. Family contacts that dropped when Poland acceded to the Schengen zone will be invigorated. Yet the more vigorous local border traffic may entail longer queues at border crossing stations, more illegal migration attempts and more vigorous shuttle trade in commodities, prices for which differ a lot in Belarus and Poland. Valery Voronetsky believes the consequences may be minimized by taking the necessary preventative measures. Belarus has been notified that Poland had already completed the intrastate procedures required for the agreement to come into force.

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