India and Pakistan announce nationwide lockdowns with only essential services operating. The Jakarta governor declares a state of emergency urging businesses to close. The EU Commission clarified advice designed to enable freight to move across the European Union.

India
The Prime Minister of India declared a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The supply and operation of essential services and goods are exempt from the lockdown. A full list of essential services is here.

Pakistan
The Pakistan government announced a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday, March 24; essential services and individuals related to those services, however, are not under lockdown.

Jakarta
The Jakarta governor declared a state of emergency and urged all businesses in Indonesia’s capital city to close for the next 14 days. Where closure is not possible, companies are to reduce employees on site to only essential staff.

European Union
The EU Commission “issued new practical advice on how to implement its Guidelines for border management, in order to keep freight moving across the EU during the current pandemic. To ensure that EU-wide supply chains continue to operate, Member States are requested to designate . . . all the relevant internal border-crossing points on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) as ‘green lane’ border crossings. The green lane border crossings should be open to all freight vehicles, whatever goods they are carrying.”

The overall situation remains very fluid. Contact your local Expeditors representative for more information and operational assistance.