US embassy cable - 05VIENNA2024

UNCLAS VIENNA 002024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, AU, CTM 
SUBJECT: WCO FRAMEWORK - AUSTRIAN RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 94927 
 
1.  Post conveyed reftel talking points to the Austrian 
equivalent of a customs director general, Wolfgang Nolz, 
Section Chief of the Taxation and Customs Section in the 
Ministry of Finance.  We followed up with Alfred Nepf from 
the Department for Customs Policy and International Customs 
Relations in the MoF.  Nepf will represent the GoA at the 
June 23-25 WCO session.  Nepf said Austria fully supports 
the adoption of the WCO Framework and wants to implement it 
as soon as possible. 
 
2.  Nepf noted that there was still disagreement among 
governments concerning the legal form the Framework should 
have.  The "traditional" form is a "convention", which 
national parliaments have to ratify, often entailing a very 
lengthy process.  Nepf opined that EU Member States would 
most likely support a "recommendation" or a "customs 
declaration" that governments could implement via a formal 
obligation without parliamentary involvement.  Nepf added 
that recently, some EU colleagues were floating the idea of 
implementing the Framework as a "resolution," which would 
avoid formal implementation procedures.  Nepf underlined 
that the European Commission would ultimately coordinate a 
common EU position. 
 
BROWN#