"Most of the time, people just bring everyday foodstuffs from Russia to Estonia," Ants Kutti, head of customs at the Narva border crossing, told ERR. Some of the most common food products brought across the border include cookies, candies, salt, sugar and baking soda, as well as tea and dried fruit.

Kutti said that office supplies, books and magazines, as well as board games and artificial flowers, are also regularly imported into Estonia from the country's eastern neighbors. A lot of medicines are brought across the border too.

At the same time, there are regular attempts to carry prohibited goods from Estonia to Russia as well as the other way round, Kutti said.

Customs officials are currently assessing the need for border checks. However, according to Kutti, it could soon be the case that everyone who crosses the border is subject to checks.

"We have missed some dual-use and strategic goods such as weapons parts, ammunition, sights, night vision equipment and drones. We've also missed all kinds of microchips, microelectronics and luxury goods," said Kutti.

On average, between 3,300 and 3,400 people pass through the Narva border crossing every day. They can be roughly divided into three different groups, explained Tarmo Hütt, document expert at the Narva border crossing point.

"We estimate that around 30 percent of border crossers are involved in commercial journeys. Those crossing for all kinds of family reasons also amount to somewhere around 30 percent," said Hütt. "The remaining 40 percent are those crossing through the Narva border crossing point, either to get to Russia or Europe (for tourism– ed.)."

The majority of non-Estonian and non-Russian border crossers come from Scandinavia, though there are others from elsewhere.

"We also have quite a lot of border crossers who are actually traveling across Europe. They go absolutely everywhere. For example, Poland, Germany, Portugal, England, Iceland and Spain. In the same way, people come here from absolutely everywhere and go to Russia," Hütt said.

Ants Kutti advises anyone planning to cross the border to do their homework before arriving at the Narva check point. "All the information is available on the website of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board in Estonian, Russian and English. If something is confusing, you can always use the customs information helpline. There is also no law against asking a customs officer for advice at the border crossing point," he said.

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