The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO has a mandate from the Federal Council to prepare in cooperation with the Federal Customs Administration and other Federal Offices a feasibility study on a direct interaction between the Swiss and EU customs systems and within the eCustoms project of the EU. The study shall be ready by the end of September so that the Federal Council can decide upon a mandate to negotiate with the EU in this matter by the end of 2010. The feasibility study is part of the e-government package as laid down in the Federal Councils growth policy 2008-2011. It incorporates the impact on the Swiss economy, customs, and Swiss-EU integration policy. Further, the different legal angles of such an undertaking be it Swiss customs or international law, value added tax law, or data protection are discussed as well. The present study shall indicate the customer's interests with special emphasis on the situation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as opposed to big companies and logistics firms.
