Zoll Frankfurt: Digital focus on booming online trade in 2025

Police News for Bonn, April 23, 2025: Hessian finance minister Prof. Dr. Lorz and State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance Prof. Dr. Hölscher visit the Frankfurter Zoll

On April 23, 2025, the Hessian finance minister Prof. Dr. R. Alexander Lorz and the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Prof. Dr. Luise Hölscher, at the customs of Frankfurt Airport. Your visit was intended to find out about the processes in the handling of international online programs that come from the Asian region.

Frankfurt Airport has established itself as one of the largest international air freight hubs in Europe and has recorded a significant increase in parcel shipments from countries such as China in recent years. This trend is significantly favored by the global increase in e-commerce, which demands logistics and customs processing to an unprecedented extent.

The customs officers are faced with demanding challenges due to the growing freight volume. It is important to ensure a balanced process that focuses on both the rapid processing of permitted goods as well as the strict compliance with customs regulations. An important task is to protect consumers from dangerous products and ensure that all legal regulations regarding product safety as well as consumer and environmental protection are observed.

To deal with the increased cargo attack, the customs authorities are increasingly relying on digital solutions. This includes a special IT system for the handling of low-value programs, which enables targeted risk analysis. So suspicious programs can be identified and controlled efficiently. In addition, the cooperation between the customs offices, especially with increased shipment quantities at Frankfurt Airport, is improved.

At the end of her visit, both Minister Lorz and State Secretary Hölscher were positive about the professionalism and the commitment of the customs officers. Lorz emphasized the importance of continuous optimization of the control options in online trading, while Hölscher pointed out to adapt the control strategies to the dynamic developments in international goods traffic. Cooperation at European level is considered crucial to effectively counter the challenges of the booming online trade.

In summary, it can be said that customs at Frankfurt Airport with around 1,400 employees plays a decisive role for the internationally growing online trade by carrying out millions of goods handling every year and generating significant income to tariffs and import sales tax.