Ukraine has simplified travel abroad
The State Customs Service introduced from June 13 a simplified scheme of customs control for citizens flying outside Ukraine from Boryspil airport. As Korespondent.net reports, the head of the Customs, Vladimir Skomarovsky, announced this.
According to him, this scheme will correspond to international practice and standards, and will avoid queues at the customs control line. According to the scheme used in European countries, citizens independently determine the need to declare goods and submit them for customs clearance. They also have the opportunity to declare baggage and hand luggage before and after check-in for the flight.
According to Skomarovsky, this experiment has so far been introduced only at Boryspil airport, and in the future it is planned to extend this scheme to other airports.
Boryspil expects to become an international transit transport hub of regional significance by 2010. In 2004, the airport increased passenger traffic by 33,9% to 3,16 million people.
In April, Viktor Yushchenko demanded that the leadership of the State Customs Service and the State Border Guard Service simplify border crossing and passage through customs checkpoints.
Ukraine and Italy want to reach an agreement on our migrant workers
Ukraine intends to sign an agreement defining quotas for Ukrainian citizens working in Italy. As Interfax-Ukraine reports, this was stated at a press conference after a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk.
"We agreed with Minister Fini that we will instruct the creation of delegations to begin negotiations on signing agreements on the employment of Ukrainian citizens and on annual quotas for Ukrainian citizens to work in Italy, which will come into force immediately after the signing of the readmission agreement between Ukraine and the European Union," Boris Tarasyuk said.
In turn, Gianfranco Fini emphasized that the mechanism defining quotas for Ukrainian citizens among other foreigners working in Italy can be launched only after the signing of a readmission agreement with the European Commission. Fini noted that thanks to the actions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the signing of this agreement is "not far off."
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister thanked his Italian colleague for the migration law initiated by the latter, thanks to which about 100,000 Ukrainian citizens working in Italy received legal status.
Tarasyuk said that during the negotiations the issue of ensuring social protection for Ukrainians temporarily staying in Italy, regardless of their status - legal or illegal - was discussed. The parties also discussed the possibility of liberalizing the visa regime for certain groups of Ukrainian citizens.
It will be possible to enter Southern African countries with one visa
The countries of southern Africa decided to introduce a single entry visa by 2010. As ITAR-TASS reports, an agreement on this was reached in Johannesburg at a meeting of ministers of the member states of the Southern African Development Community.
Today's decision was largely due to the prospect of the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The introduction of a single visa will allow all countries of the vast region south of the equator to benefit from the expected significant influx of tourists. This will mean that foreign tourists who receive an entry visa to one of the 15 SADC countries will be able to visit other states with it.
US considers Ukrainian planes unsafe
The US Federal Aviation Administration believes that Ukraine "does not comply with the international safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization." As ITAR-TASS reports, this agency, part of the US Department of Transportation, came to this conclusion based on the results of an inspection conducted in October last year.
Based on the results of the inspection, the safety rating for Ukraine was downgraded to Category 2. Under FAA rules, this means one of two things: either the country "does not have laws or administrative regulations necessary for oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards," or the national civil aviation authority "has deficiencies in one or more of the following areas: technical expertise, availability of trained personnel, record keeping, inspection procedures."
In accordance with US rules, a country in the second aviation safety category has the right to "continue operations in the US at the existing level, but under increased FAA oversight." Expansion of activities or changes to them are not permitted except for services provided by aircraft leased with crews from companies in the US or another country belonging to the first category.
The FAA press release emphasizes that the new assessment relates exclusively to Ukraine's compliance with ICAO standards, and not to the safety level of flights of any particular airline. The Americans express readiness to "periodically review" this assessment and "encourage changes that would give Ukraine the right to a first category rating."
US eased entry conditions for foreigners
The United States has revised its strict requirement that foreign citizens arriving on US territory have biometric data in their passports without fail from October of this year. ITAR-TASS reports this, citing informed European sources.
The US was forced to compromise, as most European Union states will not manage to issue new types of passports by the specified deadline. As a result, the United States faced the prospect of chaos on its borders due to huge queues of arrivals.
Nevertheless, the US demanded the tightening of a number of procedural formalities, which will lead to significant groups of citizens of France and Italy having to obtain entry visas. Currently, special consular agreements are in force between the United States and most European Union states, which allow visa-free entry. At the beginning of this year, the EU countries asked to postpone the mandatory introduction of biometric passports for visa-free entry to the US until August 2006.