To contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Council imposed entry bans in mid-March 2020. But he couldn’t stop shopping tourism. As of March 23, the Federal Customs Administration (EZV) therefore sanctioned the unintentional with fines. The federal government relied on the customs law. From April 17, these fines were expressly recorded in the Covid-19 regulation.
In its report published in June on the Covid-19 measures at the border, the GPK-S came to the conclusion that “by April 17, 2020, there was no express – and consequently, from their point of view, insufficient – legal basis for fines for violations of the There was a shopping tourism ban ». In addition, the decision of the FCA should have been communicated more explicitly.
“Partly inadequate communication”
In its statement published in the Federal Gazette on Tuesday, the Federal Council stated that it wanted to implement some of the recommendations of the GPK-S. For example, the scope of the Customs Act should be clarified for future cases. The ongoing total revision of the Customs Act offers the possibility to do so. He assumes that “such a situation will not repeat itself in the future,” writes the Federal Council.
Regarding the criticism of having communicated poorly in the present case, the government writes that the cooperation between the administrative units should have “been more intensive”. The Federal Council also admits “that the topic could have been discussed in more detail at one of its meetings”. The communication was “partially inadequate”.
“Tremendous workload”
At the same time, the Federal Council states that the situation in the first Corona phase presented “an enormous workload” for the departments concerned. It is therefore “understandable” that the necessary clarifications have moved into the background. Nonetheless, “closer cooperation is to be sought in the future”.
When it published its report in the summer, the GPK-S emphasized “that it is a retrospective assessment of decisions that had to be made by the federal administration within a very short period of time and on the basis of an uncertain information situation”. You also see “no fundamental problem” with regard to the behavior of the customs staff.
“Relatively small number of criticized cases”
In relation to the large number of border crossings and controls, there was, according to the GPK-S, “a relatively small number of incidents criticized”. In view of this and the relatively few complaints and complaints, the customs authorities and the staff did a good job overall.
According to the Federal Council, any contested fines will be reviewed by the competent federal or cantonal appeal bodies. Wrongly issued fines would be reimbursed once the proceedings had been concluded if a legally binding decision had been made and their imposition would be dealt with internally. (pbe / SDA)