Some 90,000 people have downloaded a mobile phone app to speed them through customs when they declare goods at the Swiss border. Swiss customs said on Tuesday the innovation had netted them CHF1.1 million ($1.1 million) in duties since it was launched a year ago.
The Federal Customs AdministrationExternal link has declared the QuickZoll app a success, registering more than 13,000 declarations since spring 2018. As there has been no decline in the number of paper-based customs declarations, officials claim that the app has brought in extra revenues.
The app can be used at road border crossings and also by people travelling into Switzerland by plane or train. Users are given information about Swiss customs requirements and can enter their declaration and pay using the app.
It is one of several digital innovations to be launched under the CHF400 million DaziT project that runs from 2018 to 2026. QuickZoll cost CHF200,000 to develop.
Swiss customs also launched a new app at the start of May, called Via, which allows people to pay duties on foreign-registered large vehicles, such as coaches or motor homes, that enter Switzerland. Since it was launched Via has brought in revenues of CHF100,000.
A pilot project for yet another app, this time for declaring commercial merchandise, has been operational since the end of May. The customs office did not release figures for measuring the success of the Activ app pilot project, which has been set up at the Rhine border crossing point into Basel in northwest Switzerland.
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How to simplify Swiss customs with new app
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