DaziT brings 52 Swiss border projects online

Switzerland has completed 52 projects under its DaziT programme to standardise and digitise customs and border procedures, SRF reports. A further 13 applications are due to be launched by the end of 2026.

The programme covers goods customs processes for imports and exports, as well as checks on people and vehicles. Its applications are intended for companies, private travellers and employees of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, or BAZG.

DaziT began in 2018 with a budget of around 400 million Swiss francs and was scheduled to run until the end of 2026. Completed projects include systems for the performance-related heavy vehicle charge, goods exports, the electronic motorway vignette and the Quick Zoll app for private individuals handling customs and value-added tax procedures.

Five further projects are being prepared for implementation after 2026. They include customs clearance for authorised imports and staff deployment planning.

Reform faced criticism

DaziT is part of a wider transformation of the BAZG, which was previously known as the Federal Customs Administration. The former leadership pushed ahead with digitalisation and the merger of professional roles before sufficient information had been provided and before the necessary legal basis was in place. The resulting problems continue to affect the reform.

In 2021, the authorities announced plans to merge the customs and border guard professions into a single role called customs and border security specialist. The change unsettled employees with different backgrounds in civilian customs and the armed border guard. Police forces and cantons later also raised concerns about future responsibilities and questioned whether the federal government was seeking to create a new armed super-authority.

In May 2022, the parliamentary oversight body GPS-S examined the reorganisation and criticised the approach taken by then Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and BAZG Director Christian Bock. The Federal Council approved a complete revision of the Customs Act in August that year, before submitting it to Parliament.

When Karin Keller-Sutter succeeded Maurer as finance minister at the end of 2022, she initiated mediation between the BAZG and the cantons. The process was later extended to the BAZG leadership and staff associations. Former Aargau cantonal government councillor Urs Hofmann led the mediation.

Parliamentary oversight bodies, including the Parliamentary Control Committees and the Swiss Federal Audit Office, also reviewed the reorganisation and DaziT. They issued criticism and proposed improvements. The Federal Audit Office identified remaining information security gaps in 2025 and reviewed DaziT five times in total.

Pressure for digital customs procedures

Companies and freight forwarders had long called for simpler, especially digital, procedures for goods crossing the Swiss border. This pressure likely helped the nearly 500-page Customs Act move quickly through Parliament rather than being sent back to the beginning. Parliament completed its deliberations in June 2025.

Keller-Sutter travelled to Weil am Rhein in Germany for the conclusion of the DaziT transformation programme, where she answered questions from media representatives. The programme is due to be completed at the end of 2026.