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Abolition of customs airfield requirement for Germany?

There are already customs flying squads in some EU countries.

France

gallois wrote:

There are already customs flying squads in some EU countries.

That’s really the proper way to cover it anyway. Both France and Switzerland, and likely many other EU countries, do “random” customs checks throughout the national territory using roaming customs units. That applies to highway traffic just as much as or more so than air traffic.

Many years ago I landed in Blois coming from Switzerland. We were hungry so went into the airfield restaurant and had some lunch. A few customs officers were also in the restaurant. They had flown down from Paris in their Beech King Air, just for lunch (I believe). Seeing our aircraft when they returned to theirs, they just waited for us to come back out after finishing our lunch and checked us then. All very friendly, but it covered the bases for them and as far as I know it was just opportunistic on their part.

LSZK, Switzerland

Sure there are flying squads for catching smugglers etc but this proposition is to make them fly all over the place, across hundreds of airports potentially used by UK Swiss and even Norwegian pilots, plus Russians etc. This is in a country in which they have set up a really cosy small number of permanent bases which are guarded with a nuclear-like policy (as per that Swiss pilot who got busted). Does anybody really think this is going to suddenly change? And look at France, where the police withdrew from 100+ airports some 10 years ago because they didn’t want to bother with covering them – reportedly because Brussels set a requirement for a certain minimum coverage % and they could not achieve it with their staffing levels. This proposal would be a revolution – a grenade dropped into a nice warm cosy setup. And what for? To benefit who? Not to facilitate travel to/from the hated UK (mainland customs are on a go-slow on UK packages, even DHL Express (normally 24hrs), chucking them to one side for 1 week) which in terms of traffic leaves basically Switzerland, plus airports frequented by Russians and such like. The result would be a complex matrix of immigration (in Germany and Italy on a PN system, but only some, which almost nobody knows about) and customs.

It isn’t going to happen.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

Does anybody really think this is going to suddenly change?

I don’t see why not. Going from Norway to Sweden (EU) is simple. Just file a FP and go, no questions asked. It’s the other way that can be a PITA with 4h in advance reporting to the customs office unless flying directly to an international airport, then it’s only 1h in advance, and lots of nonsense when getting there. You could (in theory as well as in practice) bump into Swedish customs when entering, but there are no formalistic processes you need to adhere to up front, other than FP. Of course, bringing illegal substances (like illegal import of SEPs ) will get you firmly in big trouble if caught. I can only hope this may put some sanity into the Norwegian customs office, but I wouldn’t put my hopes up very high.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Flight Plans will still exist so the douaniers will have advance warning exactly as now.
The numbers of GA entering and leaving is so low as to not cause the current border force any problems unless they want to make it so.
UK and Russia will still need immigration controls and so the situation will not change for them.
Switzerland might well be the main benefactor and that would be a good thing. But there will have to be the threat that customs can descend on an aircraft landing at an non customs field.

France

Indeed, but Germany (and Italy) have lots of airfields which are not customs/immigration per the AIP but can have immigration on a PN. That opens up a whole load of places for the “flying squad” to have to head to, very fast, in their €3000/hr twin turbine helis

Sure, right now, there is little traffic, due to CV19, and due to Germany having so few permanent-customs airports. Just 24 which Swiss / UK / etc non-EU can fly to.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

But there’ no need for Swiss and Norwegians to use the 24 custom airports in the future since they signed Schengen and thus no need to clear immigration. Or what do I miss?

EDLE

Only that the 24 expands dramatically if say a load of Brits use the immigration-PN route, and German customs “flying squad” won’t be able to keep up

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter,

once again it is mixing up C U S T O M S and Immigration.

The german doc talks of CUSTOMS. Period. That Swiss Pilot was busted and punished by CUSTOMS.

It is totally irrelevant to the UK, because the UK is not part of Schengen. Therefore, the only (massive) step would be that Germany allows people who are not in the Customs Union (EU) but in Schengen to use their airports without having to inform or be attended by customs, which is about goods, not people.

the UK in any case will need immigration, now as before. Nothing has changed with Brexit on that front. What has changed is that the UK now also needs customs.

So yes, this is relevant for practically Switzerland and Norway for the moment, but at least for the Swiss it would be a HUGE thing if it proves correct. At the same time, the Swiss, being the rather cautious people they have been taught to be by incidents like the busted pilot, will be hypercareful to believe this. Hence, what will be needed is a document which is totally legally binding which anyone can carry on board, or an ammendment in the AIP. Otherwise, nobody will want to be the first to try it. Switzerland has a huge training volume which uses places like Donaueschingen, Mengen, Leutkirch, Memmingen and more, all of which have PPR for customs. If we could do without it, I think quite a few bottles of bubbly stuff would be opened here.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Hence, what will be needed is a document which is totally legally binding which anyone can carry on board.

Oh I would say that the Zollkodex is totally legally binding, since unlike the AIP it would be the basis for a customs prosecution…

So ask yourself this:

a) is there evidence that the EU legislation has been amended?
b) is there evidence that German legislation has been amended?

and more importantly
c) can you be prosecuted should local directives differ from adopted EU legislation?

I believe the answer to all three is crystal-clear and can be supported with easily accessible official documentation.

T28
Switzerland
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