WCO FRAMEWORK - AUSTRIAN RESPONSE

UNCLAS VIENNA 002024

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD AU CTM
SUBJECT: WCO FRAMEWORK - AUSTRIAN RESPONSE

REF: STATE 94927


1. Post conveyed reftel talking points to the Austrian
equivalent of a customs director general, Wolfgang Nolz,
Section Chief of the Taxation and Customs Section in the
Ministry of Finance. We followed up with Alfred Nepf from
the Department for Customs Policy and International Customs
Relations in the MoF. Nepf will represent the GoA at the
June 23-25 WCO session. Nepf said Austria fully supports
the adoption of the WCO Framework and wants to implement it
as soon as possible.


2. Nepf noted that there was still disagreement among
governments concerning the legal form the Framework should
have. The "traditional" form is a "convention", which
national parliaments have to ratify, often entailing a very
lengthy process. Nepf opined that EU Member States would
most likely support a "recommendation" or a "customs
declaration" that governments could implement via a formal
obligation without parliamentary involvement. Nepf added
that recently, some EU colleagues were floating the idea of
implementing the Framework as a "resolution," which would
avoid formal implementation procedures. Nepf underlined
that the European Commission would ultimately coordinate a
common EU position.

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