Customs chief Christian Bock has to go

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Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and Christian Bock have agreed to replace the head of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BASF), the state government announced. The full Federal Council approved the move at its meeting.

Effective immediately, Bock’s previous deputy, Isabella Emmenegger, will take over on an interim basis. The previous BASF director will be available to the finance department for two months for special tasks. His position is announced.

Negative pressure

The Bundesrat has not provided any further information on the reasons for Bock’s departure. In the statement, he thanked the doctor of law for his dedicated work and expressed his appreciation.

Bock was under pressure for a long time: the mood in his authority was bad, CH Media wrote. A new customs law, which is intended to massively expand customs powers, caused red heads in parliament.

In 2019, the Federal Council decided that customs officers and border guards should have the same job from now on. This also means that the former civilian customs experts will also wear uniforms and be armed. The framework law for the reorganization is still under discussion in parliament. In April, the National Council’s Economic Commission narrowly defeated a motion to reject the fully revised Customs Act by 11 votes to 9 with four abstentions.

After criticism of the proposal from the cantons, federal councilor Karin Keller-Sutter had already set up a working group around former Aargau government councilor Urs Hofmann (SP) in January. In particular, there is controversy about what competences employees of the BASF should have in the future and what rules should apply to the handling of sensitive data. The reform was also criticized by BASF staff.

In office since 2016

The statement says that Bock successfully led numerous large-scale projects during his tenure, the Federal Council wrote. During the pandemic and in connection with the war in Ukraine, he proved to be an excellent crisis manager.

Christian Bock was elected head of the then Federal Customs Administration in 2016. In early 2022, this was renamed Federal Office of Customs and Border Security as part of the merger of Customs and Border Guards. (SDA/brother)

Source:Blick