BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The government has announced a series of new protocols for air travel, removing the green list for travel and the need for quarantine on arrival in Brunei.

At a press conference on Friday, the Minister of the Interior YB Pehin Dato Hj Awg Abu Bakar Hj Apong said there will no longer be different health protocols based on the country a traveler is departing from, only vaccination status.

From May 6, the following new rules will come into effect:

• All vaccinated travelers will be permitted to enter/exit Brunei for non-essential travel. The Travel Green List will be retired.
• All travelers entering/leaving Brunei should receive a third dose of vaccine or have taken a second dose within the last three months.
• Travelers entering Brunei no longer have to self-quarantine as long as they produce a negative ART result upon arrival. They will also need to perform ART on Days 2 and 3. PCR testing is no longer required for vaccinated travellers.
• Unvaccinated travelers can only enter Brunei if they have proof of medical exemption. They must take an ART upon arrival and a PCR test on day 3. They must also self-isolate until they receive their PCR result.
• From May 15, teenagers who are citizens or residents of Brunei must be boosted if they wish to leave the country.

Previously, only travelers departing from 11 “green list” countries may enter Brunei for non-essential reasons.

Explaining the reason for the removal of the travel green list, the Home Secretary said travelers from countries not on the green list did not pose a higher risk to the local community.

“Given the effectiveness of ART testing in detecting active infections…local statistics have shown that there is no difference in risk of infection between those arriving from green-listed countries travel and those arriving from non-TGL countries,” he said.

However, the land and sea border remains closed to non-essential travel, with the governments of Brunei and Malaysia still in talks over the matter.