The massive backlog in international parcel imports in Moscow has been eliminated thanks toemergency working measures and customs clearance is now operating normally again, according to
Russian Post.Customs clearance of international shipments at the International Post Office in Moscow(MMPO), which handles more than 80% of shipments from abroad, has stabilised in recent weeks, thepostal operator announced. The number of registered parcels ready for customs clearance and EMSshipments now complies with standards for daily operations while the non-registered remainingparcels have been reduced to zero.
A backlog of over 50,000 international shipments awaiting customs clearance or registration hadpiled up in Moscow by March 30 due to changes in clearance procedures. In response, Russian Postand international express operators were forced to restrict some kinds of shipments to Moscow.
Since the end of March, MMPO Moscow, which is located near the city centre and about 42 km fromSheremetyevo International Airport, has been operating round-the-clock in two 12-hour shifts withadditional staff to clear the backlog. This enabled the backlog to be reduced quickly in the firstweek of April. On April 6, for example, 27,704 parcels and 6,389 registered EMS items were awaitingcustoms clearance, with a further 10,000 awaiting registration.
This 24/7 working schedule will be maintained in the future, Russian Post said. The number ofemployees at the customs office is not planned to be reduced with 15 customs officers controllingmail and 7 workers in charge of EMS shipments.
Meanwhile, Russian Post has implemented a series of additional measures to optimise thelogistics flow of international shipments. The postal operator is also considering redistributingshipment flows of the two international post offices in Bryansk, located 379 kilometres south-westfrom Moscow, and at Sheremetyevo International Airport respectively.
In the medium-term, the company thus expects to lessen the load at the International Post Officein Moscow taking into account the anticipated growth in international shipments of 15-20% per year.To solve the issue of handling a growing number of mail shipments from abroad, it is planned toexpand the number of MMPOs across Russia from the current 12 to 25 locations.
