Smart Border Austria Smart Border Austria is designed to simplify and accelerate cross-border freight transport between Switzerland or the Principality of Liechtenstein and Austria. It is available in both directions and ensures more efficient customs clearance.

  1. Objective of Smart Border Austria

The primary objective of Smart Border Austria is the digitisation of customs processes in Vorarlberg and the replacement of the existing paper-based routing slip procedure.

Smart Border Austria is a solution jointly agreed with the Swiss Customs Administration and serves to monitor the processes agreed upon by both customs administrations.

  1. Processes

General Information

The following processes are currently mapped in Smart Border Austria:

Requirements

To participate in the Smart Border Austria processes, please ensure that the following requirements are met:

Technical Requirements

  • Web service account (incl. necessary authorisation)
  • Customs software with interfaces to the IT systems of the Austrian Customs Administration
  • Customs software with interfaces to the IT systems of the Swiss Customs Administration

Details to technical Requirements can be found here:
Technical specifications Smart Border Austria

Functional Requirements

  • EORI registration available
  • RIN registration (incl. assignment to the respective company) available
  • Approved location in Vorarlberg available (except for Rolling Corridor – Exit and Transit – Entry)
  • Official registration for the Smart Border Austria processes (issued by the West Office of the Austrian Customs Office)
  • Special requirement of the Approved Location – Entry process
    AEO certification     by a Member State of the European Union for the economic operator who submits the corridor pre-notification (message IEATBT01).

If the economic operator does not hold an AEO certification, they shall declare an assumption of debt in accordance with Art. 84 UCC in conjunction with Section 54a Customs Law Implementation Act (ZollR-DG) during official registration. This applies to cases where the process is not properly completed by the submission of the arrival notification (IEATBT04).

Entry of License Numbers
From 24 March 2026, the license numbers of means of transport will be checked regarding their structure.

 

Application Form for official registration
Mandatory official registration is required to participate in the Smart Border Austria processes. The relevant form can be found on the website.

 

Glossary

Approved Locations: Only approved locations in Vorarlberg are permitted for the processes.

Border Customs Offices: The following offices can be used for digitised crossings: Höchst, Lustenau, Hohenems, Mäder, Meiningen, Tisis, and Pfunds (Pfunds exclusively for Transit – Entry).

IT Solution: Smart Border Austria provides approved economic operators with technical interfaces for electronic messages.

Documents in Smart Border Austria

  • Customs Border Entry Document (GZS-ES): Confirms the opening of the Approved Location Corridor – Entry process. It must be printed and carried in paper form throughout the entire transport.
  • Customs Border Exit Document (GZS-AS): Confirms the opening of the Approved Location Corridor – Exit or Rolling Corridor – Exit processes. It must be printed for the Approved Location process but is not required to be carried for the Rolling Corridor.
  • Corridor Pre-notification Confirmation Document (KV-BS): Confirms the provisional opening of the Rolling Corridor – Exit process. It does not need to be carried.
  • Transit Entry Document (TES): Confirms the opening of the Transit – Entry process. It must be printed and carried until the office of transit in Vorarlberg.

Definitions

Corridor Pre-notification: The message used to initiate a new Border Transaction (BTN).

Border Transaction Number (BTN): A unique 18-digit alphanumeric reference for each case.

Corridor: Refers to the route between the border office and the approved location (or the specific time span for the Rolling Corridor).

LPR Cameras: The customs administration uses License Plate Recognition cameras for automatic registration and matching with a BTN.

Project Phases

  • Regular Operation: Approved Location Corridor (Entry/Exit) since July 2024.
  • Mandatory: Transit – Entry since January 2026.
  • Planned for 2026:
    • Pilot phase for the digitisation of border customs offices (first half of 2026).
    • Rolling Corridor – Exit (second quarter of 2026).
    • Termination of the paper-based routing slip procedure (second or third quarter of 2026).

Contact

For questions or issues regarding Smart Border Austria, please contact: Email: post.smartborder@bmf.gv.at