Customs is a key topic of the “Masterplan Logistik 2025”
“The logistics location Austria has too many open construction sites. If we rest on our World Bank laurels, we’ll oversleep our future,” warned Mag. Wolfram Senger-Weiss, President of the Austrian association Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik, in a press conference on 5 September. This was linked to the appeal to position Austria as a leading and highly efficient logistics location in the economic area of Central and Eastern Europe.
While the domestic logistics industry is receiving first-class international ratings, politicians must immediately create legal and infrastructural framework conditions for safeguarding the future. The focus should be on digitisation and the development of an intelligent infrastructure that would create significantly more capacity. “In addition, more needs to be done for ecology, and customs have to be made more competitive,” demands the Central Association in its “Logistics Master Plan 2025”.
The World Bank ranked Austria fourth in the Logistics Performance Index 2018. Wolfram Senger-Weiss: “This is very pleasing, but no guarantee for tomorrow. We now have to make decisions in the interest of business and consumers, setting the course for the sustainable strengthening of our competitive position in Europe.”
The “Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik” has defined the challenges and solutions for a competitive logistics location Austria in the “Masterplan Logistik 2025”. These include:
-) Use Austria’s potential as a logistics hub between Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia
-) Strengthening Austria in the growing e-commerce sector
-) Promotion of innovative and environmentally friendly logistics solutions
-) Framework conditions for a competitive analogue and digital infrastructure
-) Establishment of logistics officers in the federal states
-) “Austrian Logistics” as a contribution to quality assurance and location marketing
Wolfram-Senger Weiss: “No one is waiting for Austria. It is important that we act now to secure Austria as a business location. Not only with the best companies and the best employees, but also by appropriate conditions.”
According to the Central Association Forwarding & Logistics, the prerequisites for this are simpler customs clearance and the admission of direct representation for the 42 customs procedure . This Austrian unique of the personal liability of customs agents and their employees in tax debts of clients must be eliminated. The recent criminalisation of customs declarants makes the recruitment of qualified young talents almost impossible and reduces the attractiveness of the logistics location, explained Wolfram Senger-Weiss.
Austria as a logistics location stands for 11,000 freight forwarders, transport, handling, warehousing, logistics and technology providers with 160,000 directly employed, a direct revenue of EUR 33.6 billion and a direct value added of EUR 8.6 billion.