Business partner administration: Terms of use for Connex

Version: January 9th 2023

Information

Information on the registration process can be found under: Registering for the Confederation's ePortal.

Business relationship

Login

1. In order to use the digital services of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), ePortal registration is necessary. A user account can be created or an account of an accepted identity provider (IdP) can be used.
2. A separate, personal account must be used for each natural person who wishes to use ePortal.
3. Individuals with a login are referred to as users in this document.

Business partners

1. Interaction with the FOCBS takes place via private individuals or legal entities called business partners. Individuals with a login are assigned to a business partner and represent the business partner in dealings with the FOCBS.
2. Business partner administration is carried out in the Connex application.
3. Companies entered in one of the registers used (UID, DUNS, BER) are obliged to use this entry to log in as a business partner.
4. Business partner roles can be requested for a business partner, and these are then used to manage access to various FOCBS services.

Onboarding letter

1. A business partner's identity is verified by means of a one-off onboarding letter. This is sent to the address entered in the UID/DUNS register; it is sent to the address specified in the case of individuals and companies entered manually, and to the address of the headquarters entered in the UID register in the case of branches.
2. The onboarding letter contains a code that has to be redeemed in Connex. This links the logged-in individual to the business partner.

Administrator roles

1. The first user who registers for a business partner by entering the code in the onboarding letter is automatically assigned the administrator role.
2. The administrator role enables further users to be entered for the business partner. The administrator role can also be assigned to other people.
3. The administrator role applies to all FOCBS digital services.
4. The administrator role can be used to authorise other people for existing business partner roles of the business partner.
5. The business partner is responsible for assigning roles to people authorised by it and for removing people who are no longer authorised (e.g. when an employee's contract is terminated).

Attribution

1. The actions of anyone who acts on behalf of a business partner shall be attributed to the business partner.

Data processing

1. Business partner and user data is managed by users with the self-service procedure. They are responsible for the accuracy of the data. Those registered are also responsible for keeping their data up to date in the UID, DUNS and BER registers.
2. The FOCBS employees responsible for the task in question use this data for the purposes provided for by law, and in particular for collecting levies, carrying out checks and granting authorisations.
3. Personal data may be used for reporting and statistical purposes, for risk analysis and for the planning of checks.
4. Data from registers may be modified solely via the registers concerned. It is subject to the data protection provisions of the respective registers.
5. Individuals and companies entered manually control their data themselves. It shall be retained until the person concerned issues a deletion request. If FOCBS retention obligations are concerned, the data may not be deleted for the duration of this retention obligation.
6. The FOCBS reserves the right to delete data after a period of inactivity of more than 10 years. Inactivity means that the data has not been used for any connected application anywhere in the Confederation during the period in question.
7. If Connex data is copied to other areas, the retention period is determined by the applicable rules for the corresponding area (e.g. addresses in a goods customs declaration are deleted together with the goods declarations when their retention period has expired).