Trade facilitation - Austria

This is a joint EU and Austrian Ministry of Finance programme set up to support the upgrading of Croatian customs systems, specifically to upgrade the existing national customs IT system for tracking and control­ling goods in transit to a system that is compatible with the NCTS system in the EU countries and in signa­tory countries of the Convention on a common transit procedure. The project was launched in 2008 with a budget of €500,000, financed by the EU and is being carried out with experts from the Austrian Ministry of Finance. It aims to reduce administrative red tape at the customs border and facilitate the smooth flow of trade within the region. Its specific objectives are to: (i) enhance the capacity and efficiency of the transit procedures; (ii) reinforce the fight against fraud; (iii) accelerate cross border traffic; (iv) facilitate trade for the economy (import/export); (v) save time (and therefore cost) for traders; and (vi) have a prototype for future e-customs projects (“paperless customs”).