On 1 January 2019, the German customs administration merged the main customs offices Hamburg-Hafen and Hamburg-Stadt. The main customs office Hamburg will cover the entire Hamburg city area, with the exception of the Hamburg airport. This eliminates the inner-city customs borders, which was a logistical obstacle.
The new office, headquartered in the HafenCity, will be the largest customs office of the German customs administration with more than 1,700 employees. The new head will be Chief Government Director Christian Schaade. The customs officials collect customs duties in Hamburg, import VAT and motor vehicle and excise duties amounting to around EUR 30 billion per year. This accounts for just under 25 per cent of total tax revenue collected by customs every year, amounting to some EUR 130 billion.
Customs will be future-proof and efficient with the merger of the main customs offices in Hamburg. This is a response to the wishes of the Senate and the Hamburg economy, which have been working since the free zone resolution in 2013 for a single customs office district and contact for the operational tasks of customs in Hamburg.
With the restructuring of the cross-border processing of goods and the associated bundling of tasks at the Hauptzollamt Hamburg, the customs administration underlines the importance of Hamburg as a business location and contributes to further improving the global and European competitiveness of the Port of Hamburg. In order to make the merger as smooth as possible for all involved, there will be a transitional phase until September 2019. Therefore, the previous communication channels will initially be maintained.
Senator Michael Westhagemann: “For the first time in more than 100 years, Hamburg will no longer be divided by customs office borders, which are enormously important for the customs supervision of goods traffic. This brings our joint efforts and negotiations with customs to a successful conclusion. This is an important step towards strengthening the Hamburg site. This must be followed by further measures to digitize and automate clearance.”
State Secretary Dr. Rolf Bösinger: “The merger of Hamburg’s main customs offices will bring many benefits for the city of Hamburg and Hamburg’s industry. I am sure that we make a great contribution to coping with future challenges and ensuring the competitiveness of Hamburg as a business location.”
