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Jan 14, 2021 at 5:42 PMThe Federal Association of German Inland Shipping e. V. (BDB) criticizes the strict and impractical Corona regulations for entry. This also applies to personnel in freight and goods transport. Perhaps it would be appropriate for the associations to act rather than react. A signal should be set before the regulations come into force. Once decided, the government is unlikely to backtrack.
(Duisburg) By legal regulation, the federal government has significantly tightened the entry conditions for Germany. Anyone entering Germany from a risk area must now register electronically each time and provide proof within 48 hours that they are not infected with the coronavirus. Depending on the infection situation in the neighboring country, this proof may need to be provided at the time of entry. Personnel in freight and goods transport are also included in this regulation.
Comprehensive Control Regime
The government aims to create “a functioning and as comprehensive a control regime as possible,” according to the justification for this regulation, which was passed in a hasty manner and again without the involvement of the affected industries. Neighboring countries will henceforth be categorized into three categories: “risk area,” “high incidence area,” and “virus variant area,” with no precise definition for these terms: High incidence is considered to exist when there is a “particularly high incidence.” The government only communicates in press releases that it likely understands this to mean a value of over 200. A virus variant area is characterized by the fact that “certain variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus are widespread,” according to the regulation. There is currently confusion about when the new entry conditions for these areas will come into effect.
The entire transport personnel, especially those in inland shipping, face massive problems: For example, Austria, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands – one of the main operating areas of inland shipping – currently have 7-day incidence rates of well over 200 new infections, classifying them as high incidence areas. As a result, the entire crew must already have a negative corona test result (PCR, etc.) upon entering Germany. With a healthcare system that is already overwhelmed and has days-long waiting times, the federal government fails to answer how the required testing and proof obligations can be met in the short term, especially for trips in foreign waters that are only interrupted for cargo handling.
Huge Barriers for Freight Transport
With its new, constitutionally questionable entry regulation, the federal government is once again creating huge barriers to smooth freight transport in Europe. The supply of raw materials for industry is at risk of stalling again, and everyday consumer goods will become scarce if transport personnel are denied entry due to missing corona test results and foreign ship personnel can no longer enter Germany to take up their duties on board. Not only inland shipping, port operations, and many other parts of the transport economy are endangered and deprived of their foundation, but the economic location of Germany is also severely harmed.
The inland shipping and port industry calls on the federal government to create comprehensive and unrestricted exceptions for the transport sector, specifically for the crew on board inland vessels, to ensure that the repeatedly promoted freedom of movement of goods and freight transport in Europe is maintained. Exceptions that are tied to a maximum stay of 72 hours in high incidence areas are unrealistic, unsuitable, and the opposite of sustainable and intelligent mobility in times of crisis for shipping, which regularly operates for up to 7 days in foreign waters.
Is the Federal Government Unaware of Certain EU Recommendations?
In its communication “Strategy for Sustainable and Intelligent Mobility” dated December 9, 2020, which the federal government is likely aware of, the EU Commission explicitly emphasizes that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities of the internal market. Continuous freight services by land, water, and air are, in their view, crucial prerequisites for ensuring that goods and operating resources reach manufacturing companies, that the EU internal market functions smoothly, and that the EU can effectively respond to current and future crises.
Photo: © Federal Association of German Inland Shipping e.V. (BDB)
