Customs Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customs Service

 

( реферат по английскому  языку)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Студентки IV курса

Факультета иностранных языков

Полищук Валерии Сергеевны, гр.АФ 41/2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Contents

 

Chapter I - What is customs?

   1 Red and Green Channels

     2 Privatization of customs

     3 Customs services by country

     4 Summary of basic custom rules

 

Chapter II - World Customs Organization: history, instruments, administration.

 

Chapter III - Regulations for the Federal Customs Service of Russia: organization, management.

 

Chapter IV - The Concept of Development of Customs Service up to 2010

     I. General Provisions

      II. The Goal, Tasks and Principles of Development of Customs Authorities

      III. The System of Measures for Implementation of the Concept

      IV. The Directions of Customs Authorities Development

       V. The Implementation of the Concept

 

Conclusion

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter I - What is customs?

 

Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country. Depending on local legislation and regulations, the import or export of some goods may be restricted or forbidden, and the customs agency enforces these rules. The customs may be different from the immigration authority, which monitors persons who leave or enter the country, checking for appropriate documentation, apprehending people wanted by international arrest warrants, and impeding the entry of others deemed dangerous to the country.

A customs duty is a tariff or tax on the export of goods. In the Kingdom of England, customs duties were typically part of the customary revenue of the king, and therefore did not need parliamentary consent to be levied, unlike excise duty, land tax, or other forms of taxes.

Commercial goods not yet cleared through customs are held in a customs area, often called a bonded store, until processed. All authorized ports are recognized customs area.

 

Red and Green Channels

 

Customs procedures for arriving passengers at many international airports, and some road crossings, are separated into Red and Green Channels. Passengers with goods to declare (carrying items above the permitted customs limits and/or carrying prohibited items) should go through the Red Channel. Passengers with nothing to declare (carrying goods within the customs limits only and not carrying prohibited items) can go through the Green Channel. Passengers going through the Green Channel are only subject to spot checks and save time. But, if a passenger going through the Green Channel is found to have goods above the customs limits on them or carrying prohibited items, they may be prosecuted for making a false declaration to customs, by virtue of having gone through the Green Channel.

Canada and the United States do not operate a red and green channel system.

Airports within the EU also have a Blue Channel. As the EU is a customs union, travelers between EU countries do not have to pay customs duties. 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 should go through the Blue Channel, where they may still be subject to checks for prohibited or restricted goods. In addition, limitations exist on various tobacco products being imported from certain newly-joined EU member states and use of the Blue Channel if those limitations are being exceeded would be inappropriate. Luggage tickets for checked in luggage within the EU are green-edged so they may be identified. UK policy is that entry into a particular Channel constitutes a legal declaration.

 

Privatization of customs

 

Customs is an important part of the government involved in 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 privatized its Customs. This has occurred by way of engagement of Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies who examine the cargo and verify the declared value before importation is effected and the nation Customs is obliged to accept the report of the agency for the purpose of assessment of leviable 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 really 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 such involvement of such agencies has been causing delays in the shipment process. Privatization of Customs has been viewed as a fatal remedy.

 

 Summary of basic custom rules

 

Canada

No customs for mailed goods below $20 CAD.

No customs for gifts below $60 CAD.

Personal exemption amount is given to all household or personal use items imported from another country. The amount depends on the time spent outside of Canada and only accounts for Federal taxes and duties (provincial taxes may still apply). They cannot be combined with another person nor by multiplying them (i.e. 21 days outside of Canada does not equal to $2250 exemption)

24 hours or less = $0 CAD

24–47 hours = $50 CAD

48–7 days = $400 CAD

7 days or more = $750 CAD

Immigrants, in general, have a one time unlimited import allowance. However, certain articles are restricted from importation (i.e. vehicles not meeting Canadian safety standards, firearms, etc)

EU

Germany

Mail limit 22 EUR for commercial goods.

 

Romania

Customs may be very strict, especially for mailed goods (from outside the EU). No known lower limit. Taxes may be stiff. There may be an outgoing custom tax too.

Slovakia

Up to 22€ there is no taxes (it's free). From 22€ up to 150€, there is need to pay VAT (DPH in slovak) which is 19%. From 150€ there is need to pay VAT and customs. Customs may be from 0 to 10% and amount depends on type of imported good.

 

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a free port and generally do not impose duties on imported or exported goods, with the exception of liquors, tobacco, methyl alcohol and hydrocarbon oil. Residents leaving the territory with a valid Hong Kong Identity Card for 24 hours or more may import up to 1 litre of alcohol and 60 cigarettes or 15 cigars.

 

 

 

Chapter II - World Customs Organization: history, instruments, administration.

 

 

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. With its worldwide membership, the WCO is recognized as the voice of the global customs community. It is particularly noted for its work in areas covering the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security, international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), integrity promotion, and delivering sustainable capacity building to assist with customs reforms and modernization. The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.

 

History

In 1947, thirteen European countries established a Study Group to examine customs issues identified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This work led to the adoption in 1950 of the Convention Establishing the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC), which was signed in Brussels. On January 26, 1953 the CCC’s inaugural session took place with the participation of 17 founding members. WCO membership subsequently expanded to cover all regions of the globe. In 1994, the organization adopted its current name, the World Customs Organization. Today, WCO members are responsible for customs controls on more than 98% of all international trade.

The WCO is internationally acknowledged as the global centre of customs expertise and plays a leading role in the discussion, development, promotion and implementation of modern customs systems and procedures. It is responsive to the needs of its members and its strategic environment, and its instruments and best-practice approaches are recognized as the basis for sound customs administration throughout the world.

The WCO’s primary objective is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of member customs administrations, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to national development goals, particularly revenue collection, national security, trade facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics.

 

Instruments

 

In order to achieve its objectives, the WCO has adopted a number of customs instruments, including but not limited to the following:

 

1) The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) was adopted in 1983 and came into force in 1988. The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and for the compilation of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5000 commodity groups, each identified by a six digit code arranged in a legal and logical structure with well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification. The HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, rules of origin, monitoring of controlled goods, internal taxes, freight tariffs, transport statistics, quota controls, price monitoring, compilation of national accounts, and economic research and analysis.

2) The International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures (revised Kyoto Convention or RKC) was originally adopted in 1974 and was subsequently revised in 1999; the revised Kyoto Convention came into force in 2006. The RKC comprises several key governing principles: transparency and predictability of customs controls; standardization and simplification of the goods declaration and supporting documents; simplified procedures for authorized persons; maximum use of information technology; minimum necessary customs control to ensure compliance with regulations; use of risk management and audit based controls; coordinated interventions with other border agencies; and a partnership with the trade. It promotes trade facilitation and effective controls through its legal provisions that detail the application of simple yet efficient procedures and also contains new and obligatory rules for its application. The WCO revised Kyoto Convention is sometimes confused with the Kyoto Protocol, which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC).

3) ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention). Both the ATA Convention and the Istanbul Convention are WCO instruments governing temporary admission of goods. The ATA system, which is integral to both Conventions, allows the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a customs territory with relief from duties and taxes. The goods are covered by a single document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system.

4) The Arusha Declaration on Customs Integrity was adopted in 1993 and revised in 2003. The Arusha Declaration is a non-binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations.

5) The SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade was adopted in 2003. The SAFE Framework is a non-binding instrument that contains supply chain security and facilitation standards for goods being traded internationally, enables integrated supply chain management for all modes of transport, strengthens networking arrangements between customs administrations to improve their capability to detect high-risk consignments, promotes cooperation between customs and the business community through the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, and champions the seamless movement of goods through secure international trade supply chains.

 

Administration

The WCO Secretariat is headed by a Secretary General, who is elected by the WCO membership to a five year term. The current WCO Secretary General is Kunio Mikuriya from Japan, who took office on 1 January 2009. Secretary General Mikuriya has made enhanced communication, capacity building, and research his top priorities. The WCO is governed by the Council, which brings together all Members of the Organization once a year, in a meeting chaired by an elected Chairperson. Additional strategic and management guidance is provided by the Policy Commission and the Finance Committee. Several WCO committees provide a platform for developing instruments and best practices on customs competencies.

 

Chapter III - Regulations for the Federal Customs Service of Russia: organization, management.

 

 

I. General Provisions

The Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia is a Federal executive authority, performing in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation the functions of control and supervision in the field of customs and the functions of a currency control agent and special functions of contraband control, abatement of other crimes and administrative violations.

The Federal Customs Service (FCS) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation.

The FCS in its activity is guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, decrees and regulations of the President of the Russian Federation, international agreements of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and also by present Regulations.

The FCS operates directly, through customs houses and representative offices of the Service abroad, in cooperation with other federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal authorities, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, public associations and other organizations.

 

II. Authority Conferred by Office

The FCS has the following authority conferred to by the office in the established area of focus:

5.1. to perform levying of customs fees, taxes, antidumping, special and compensatory countervailing duties, customs dues, control accuracy for calculation and timely payment of such fees, taxes and duties, take measures for their recovery by enforcement;

 

5.2. to provide for compliance with the established prohibitions and limitations with respect to goods transferred across the customs border of the Russian Federation in accordance with the legislations of the Russian Federation on state regulation of foreign trade activity and international agreements of the Russian Federation;

5.3. to provide for uniform application by customs authorities of the customs legislation of the Russian Federation;

5.4.to perform customs processing and customs control;

5.5. to make decisions on classification of goods in accordance with the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade and provide for publication of such decisions;

5.6. to provide within its competence for the protection of intellectual property;

5.7. to make in accordance with established procedure preliminary decisions on classification of commodity in accordance with the Nomenclature of Goods subject to Foreign Trade, on the origin of goods from a specific country (country of goods' origin);

5.8. is responsible for:

5.8.1. keeping register of entities engaged in the activities in the field of customs;

5.8.2. keeping register of banks and other credit organizations, authorized to provide bank guaranties for payment of customs charges;

5.8.3. keeping customs register of intellectual property objects;

5.8.4. annulling customs processing specialists’ qualification certificates;

5.8.5. issuing licenses for setting up of free warehouses;

5.9. to keep foreign trade customs statistics and special customs statistics;

5.10. to inform and provide advice free of charge on the issues of customs for participants of foreign trade activity;

5.11. to perform within its competence control of currency operations, related to transfer of goods and transport vehicles across the customs border of the Russian Federation;

5.12. to carry out proceedings on administrative violations and consideration of such cases in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on administrative violations;

5.13. to carry out investigations and immediate investigation proceedings in accordance with procedural criminal legislation of the Russian Federation;

5.14. to carry out in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation operational search actions;

5.15. to develop and create in accordance with established procedure information technologies, IT hardware and information systems used by customs authorities;

5.16. to perform the functions of main manager and recipient of Federal budget funds, allocated for maintenance of the Service and performance of the imposed functions;

5.17. to provide within its competence protection of state secret information;

5.18. to consider complaints to decisions, actions or inaction of customs bodies and customs officers;

5.19. to arrange for public function, provide for timely and thorough consideration of appeals of public, to make decisions on such appeals and respond to applicants in the term established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;

5.20. to provide for mobilization training of the Service, as well as control and coordination of activity of the organizations under its jurisdiction in terms of mobilization training;

5.21. to set up professional training of executive officers of customs authorities, refresher courses, advance training and training on probation;

5.22. to accomplish in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation work on acquisition, safekeeping, accounting and using of archive documents generated in the process of the Service operation;

5.23. to interact in accordance with established procedure with the bodies of foreign governments and international organizations in the established area of activity, including that of representation on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation the interests of the RF in the World Customs Organization (Council for Customs Cooperation) and other international organizations;

5.24. to conduct in accordance with established procedure and enter into government contracts for placing goods supply orders, performance of works, rendering of services for the own needs of the Service, and for R&D works for government needs in established area of activity;

5.25. to perform functions of customer in erection of customs houses, customs check-points and other objects required for development of customs infrastructure;

5.26. to perform functions of customer in working out sketches and printing of excise stamps for marking alcohol production, tobacco and tobacco goods, imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation;

5.27. to implement programs of customs procedures in the Russian Federation;

5.28. to perform other functions in established area of activity, if such functions are envisaged by federal laws, regulatory legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation.

 

The Federal Customs Service with the purpose of realizing its authority in the established area of activity is authorized to:

6.1. with the concurrence of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation:

to set up, restructure and liquidate customs terminals, specialized customs bodies with their competence limited by several warrants for performance of certain functions, imposed on customs authorities, or for carrying out of customs operations in relation to the specific types of goods;

to define the region of activity of customs bodies;

approve general or individual provisions on customs bodies;

6.2. to organize necessary investigations, tests, experts’ examinations, analyses and evaluations, as well as scientific research in established area of activity;

6.3. to request the information required for making decisions on the issues, related to established area of activity;

6.4. to provide to legal entities and physical persons explanations on the issues relating to established area of activity;

6.5. to provide control, including financial control, over activity of customs authorities and representative offices of the FCS abroad;

6.6. to attract in accordance with established procedure for processing the issues, referred to the established area of activity, scientific and other organizations, and also scientists and experts;

6.7. to apply the measures envisaged by the legislation of the Russian Federation of restrictive, warning or preventive character, directed for prevention and/or suppression of violations by legal entities or physical persons and citizens of compulsory requirements in established area of activity, and also to apply the measures to liquidate the effects of the above violations;

6.8. to set up advisory and experts’ bodies (councils, commissions, groups, boards) in established area of activity;

6.9. to develop and approve samples of service certificates and the order of wearing uniforms.

 

The FCS is not entitled to perform in established area of activity regulatory legal regulation, except for the cases, established by federal laws, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation and regulations of the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as the functions of governmental estate administration and rendering of charged services.

The limitations specified in the first paragraph of present article are not applied to the authority of the Head of Service of estate administration, assigned to the Service as per the right of operational control, resolving of staffing issues and the issues of organization of the activities of the Service.

 

III. Activity Arrangement

The Federal Customs Service is headed by the senior executive officer to be appointed and dismissed from office by the Government of the Russian Federation on proposal of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation.

The Head of the FCS is personally responsible for implementation of authority imposed on the Service.

The Head of the FCS has deputies, commissioned and dismissed from office by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation on proposal of the Head of the Service.

The number of deputies of the Head of the Federal Customs Service is defined by the Government of the Russian Federation.

 

The Head of the FCS:

9.1. distributes responsibilities between the deputies;

9.2. recommends to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation: