An amendment to the Customs Code is set to come into effect on 1 July 2009, establishing a prior notification requirement for the transfer of goods across the EU’s external borders. Switzerland and the EU have been in talks since 19 July 2007 on the amendment of the Agreement on the Carriage of Goods. Switzerland is seeking to prevent the introductio of additional controls in Swiss-EU bilateral trade.

Following the terror attacks of 11 September 2001 and subsequent efforts by the US and the World Customs Organization to enhance the security of the supply chain, the EU has also decided for security reasons to require prior notification of goods crossing its external borders as of 1 July 2009. This applies to both imports and exports. The prior notification period is 24 hours for goods crossing by sea, two hours for rail transport, and one hour for road transport, provided that the relevant data is in electronic format. If the summary declaration is not lodged in electronic format, the prior notification period is at least four hours. Exceptions may be made within the context of international  agreements.

Goods traffic between Switzerland and the EU was worth CHF 245 bn in 2006, of which CHF 110 bn was exports and CHF 135 bn in imports. Switzerland is thus the second-largest importer of EU goods. The envisaged prior notification requirement could severely impede the intense exchange of goods between Switzerland and the EU. There are also fears of traffic problems in the border areas.

Since 19  July 2007, the Federal Council has been holding talks with the EU within the context of the agreement of 21 November 1990 on the simplification of controls and formalities for the transport of goods (Agreement on the Carriage of Goods; SR 0.631.242.05). Switzerland is seeking to ensure mutual recognition of risk analysis and further security measures in order to prevent the introduction of additional goods controls in Swiss-EU bilateral trade. A number of solutions are currently under discussion with the EU. 

Source: Swiss Federal Customs Administration

On 7 June, the European Customs Union celebrated its 40th anniversary in the Brussels Berlaymont building.   

The EU Customs Union means:

• No customs duties at internal borders between the EU Member States;
• Common customs duties on imports from outside the EU;
• Common rules of origin for products from outside the EU;
• A common definition of customs value.

Agreement on these four principles between the six founder Member States ( Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) led to completion of the Customs Union on 1 July 1968, one and a half years earlier than planned in the 1957 Treaty of Rome.

After 1 July 1968 drafting of the Community customs legislation was pushed forward to make sure that wherever goods are imported into the EU, the same rules are applied. A legal framework was established covering such important points as:

• Ensuring that the common tariff is applied in the same way all along the EU’s external borders;
• Introducing a common approach on warehousing procedures;
• Facilitating movements of goods in “customs transit”;
• Replacing the wide variety of customs documents with a single administrative document.

All the rules on the above-mentioned points were finally brought together in a single piece of legislation, the Community Customs Code, which was adopted in 1992.