Lorries and other types of vehicles transporting goods between Macau and Hengqin can once again use the Hengqin border checkpoint from Sunday, the Macau Customs Service announced in a statement yesterday.
From Sunday, however, vehicles transporting goods between Macau and elsewhere in the mainland will still not be allowed to use the Hengqin checkpoint, the statement said.
Goods vehicles travelling between Macau and mainland have not been allowed to use the Hengqin checkpoint for a while, except special ones such as those transporting fresh food supplied to Macau by the mainland and those transporting hazardous goods and materials supplied to Macau.
The Macau-Hengqin joint checkpoint on Hengqin island is connected to Macau’s Cotai via the Lotus Flower Bridge and to the University of Macau (UM) campus, which is situated in an area on Hengqin island, via a flyover. The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is exercising jurisdiction over the about one-square-kilometre area where the UM campus is located.
The Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was inaugurated in September 2021.
Yesterday’s statement by the Macau Customs Service said that with the objective of ensuring the movement of tax-exempted goods from Macau to Hengqin via the Hengqin checkpoint under the in-depth cooperation zone’s “tier-specific management” special customs arrangements, as required by the Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the Guangdong and Macau authorities have now jointly decided to resume, in phases, the Hengqin checkpoint’s operation and service for inspecting goods-transporting vehicles in general.
After the master plan was released in September 2021, the in-depth cooperation zone’s “tier-specific management” special customs arrangements got off the ground on March 1 this year.
According to the statement, the first-phase measure will start on Sunday.
The statement said that the Hengqin checkpoint’s immigration and customs clearance for lorries and other goods-transporting vehicles holding a permit to use the Hengqin checkpoint will resume at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
However, the statement said, the measure that will start on Sunday will only cover vehicles transporting goods between Macau and Hengqin, meaning that vehicles transporting goods between Macau and anywhere else in the mainland will still not be allowed to use the Hengqin checkpoint.
According to the statement, the Hengqin checkpoint’s immigration and customs clearance for goods vehicles will operate between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. The statement said that the respective individuals can make an application to and appointment with the Hengqin and Macau authorities in advance if their goods vehicles need to use the Hengqin checkpoint outside the normal operation time.
The statement also said that for goods-transporting vehicles with a length of over 16 metres, a width of over 2.5 metres or a height of over 4.25 metres, the respective individuals will also be required to make an application and appointment first regardless of when the vehicles use the checkpoint.
This file photo taken and released in March this year by the Administrative Affairs Bureau of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin shows a heavy lorry transporting hazardous materials passing an inspection channel at the Hengqin checkpoint at that time.
