Anyone who processes shipments to Switzerland on a daily basis knows the situation: the truck is ready, but something is missing from the customs documentation. This is precisely the kind of effort the federal government wants to reduce through simpler and more electronic procedures. Whether this succeeds in practice will depend on the implementation.
On October 14, 2026, the Federal Council sent the new customs regulations out for public consultation. This is the public hearing period during which associations, companies, and other stakeholders can submit their comments. The consultation runs until January 28, 2027. The proposed rules are not yet in force. (Federal Council announcement)
Parliament already adopted the legal framework on June 20, 2025. In simplified terms, the tasks and procedures of the Federal Customs and Border Security Office, or BAZG for short, are being consolidated in a framework law. The separate Customs Duties Act regulates the actual customs duties. The regulations are now intended to specify how the entire system will work in practice. (BAZG on the legislative revision)
For businesses with regular imports and exports, the planned simplified goods declarations are of particular interest. The Passar roadmap describes procedures in which fewer details are initially submitted and supplemented later. A permit is required for this. Such simplifications are therefore not automatically available to every business immediately. Passar is the new electronic goods movement system of Swiss Customs. (Passar roadmap)
For logistics planning, this means: this public consultation alone does not trigger an immediate changeover. However, preparation for Passar is continuing separately. Anyone who combines both and waits for the finished regulations could lose time during the technical transition.
In the meantime, it is worthwhile to review your own processes. Who supplies the goods data? Who checks for missing information? And who reaches the customer when the driver is already at the border? These are not major fundamental questions. But in day-to-day operations, they quickly determine whether a shipment can proceed or gets held up.