Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country Traditionally, customs has been considered as the fiscal subject that charges customs duties (i.e. tariffs) and other taxes on import and export. In recent decades, the views on the functions of customs have considerably expanded and now covers three basic issues: taxation, security, and trade facilitation.
Each country has its own laws and regulations for the import and export of goods into and out of a country, enforced by their respective customs authorities; the import/export of some goods may be restricted or forbidden entirely. A wide range of penalties are faced by those who break these laws.
Overview
Officers from US Customs and Border Protection boarding a ship
Taxation
The traditional function of customs has been the assessment and collection of customs duties, which is a tariff or tax on the importation or, at times, exportation of goods. Commercial goods not yet cleared through customs are held in a customs area, often called a bonded store, until processed. Authorized ports are usually recognized customs areas.
Trade facilitation
A more recent objective of customs has been trade facilitation, which is the streamlining of processing of import and export of goods to reduce trade transaction costs. The contemporary understanding of the “trade facilitation” concept is based on the Recommendation No. 4 of UN/CEFACT “National Trade Facilitation Bodies”. According to its provisions (para. 14),
facilitation covers formalities, procedures, documents and operations related to international trade transactions. Its goals are simplification, harmonization and standardization, so that transactions become easier, faster and more economical than before.
Security
The Finnish police, customs and border guard working together in 2006
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States has become the cardinal factor in prompting a significant strengthening of the security component of modern customs operations, after which security-oriented control measures for supply chains have been widely implemented for the aims of preventing risk identification. At airports today, customs functions as the point of no return for all passengers; once passengers have cleared customs, they cannot go back. Anyone arriving at an airport must also clear customs before they can officially enter a country. Those who breach the law will be detained by customs and likely returned to their original location. The movement of people into and out of a country is normally monitored by migration authorities, under a variety of names and arrangements. Border control authorities normally check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants, and impede the entry of people deemed dangerous to the country.
The most complete guidelines for customs security functions implementation is provided in the World Customs Organization Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE), which has had five editions in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2018, respectively.
Privatization of customs
The customs-and-duty house at the port of Haifa, Israel
Customs is part of one of the three basic functions of a government, namely: administration; maintenance of law, order, and justice; and collection of revenue. However, in a bid to mitigate corruption, many countries have partly privatised their customs. This has occurred by way of contracting pre-shipment inspection agencies, which examine the cargo and verify the declared value before importation occurs. The country’s customs is obliged to accept the agency’s report for the purpose of assessing duties and taxes at the port of entry.
While engaging a pre-shipment inspection agency may appear justified in a country with an inexperienced or inadequate customs establishment, the measure has not been able to plug the loophole and protect revenue. It has been found that evasion of customs duty escalated when pre-shipment agencies took over. It has also been alleged that involvement of such agencies has caused shipping delays. Privatization of customs has been viewed as a fatal remedy. In many countries, import and export data are issued on the basis of national laws (Transparency Laws / Freedom of Information Act).
There has, however, been some speed bumps when transitioning customs over from the public to private sector. Factors such as an incompetent private sector, government’s reluctance to change the traditional roles of customs, neglecting priority-setting and lack of transparency in the transition process have slowed the rate at which the public to private transition has taken place.
Red and green channels
Customs control zone at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow Oblast, February 2019
In many countries, customs procedures for arriving passengers at many international airports, ports and some road crossings are separated into red and green channels.[12][13] Passengers with goods to declare (carrying goods above the permitted customs limits and/or carrying prohibited items) go through the red channel, while passengers with nothing to declare (carrying goods within the permitted customs limits and not carrying prohibited items) go through the green channel. However, entry into a particular channel constitutes a legal declaration, so that if a passenger going through the green channel is found to be carrying goods above the customs limits or prohibited items, he or she may be prosecuted for making a false declaration to customs, by virtue of having gone through the green channel. Each channel is a point of no return, once a passenger has entered a particular channel, they cannot go back.
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States do not officially operate a red and green channel system; however, some airports have adopted this layout.
Blue channel
Airports in EU countries also have a blue channel. As the EU is a customs union, travellers between EU countries do not have to pay customs duties. Value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties may be applicable if the goods are subsequently sold, but these are collected when the goods are sold, not at the border. Passengers arriving from other EU countries go through the blue channel, where they may still be subject to checks for prohibited or restricted goods. Luggage tickets for checked luggage travelling within the EU are green-edged so they may be identified.[14][15] In the recent years usage of the blue channel has become limited mostly to flights between the Schengen Area member states of the EU and the remainder of EU member states, while flights which cross the border of neither the customs union nor the Schengen Area are in practice treated as domestic, and therefore, the people travelling on them do not go through customs channels at all.
Red point phone
All airports in the United Kingdom operate a channel system; however, some airports do not have a red channel, instead having a red point phone which serves the same purpose.
Summary of basic custom rules
Europe
The basic customs law is harmonized across Europe within the European Union Customs Union. This includes customs duties and restrictions. Customs tax from €22 to €150. In addition, see regulations of each member state.
For customs declarations in the EU and in Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the “Single Administrative Document” (SAD) is used as a basis.[16]
Germany
Main article: Bundeszollverwaltung
Up to €22, there are no taxes. From €22 up to €150, it is necessary to pay VAT (EUSt in Germany), which is 7% or 19% depending on the goods. From €150 it is necessary to pay VAT and customs.