A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.
A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.
Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (1999-2003). Customs officers has existed since 1868 under various departments: Customs Office, Customs and Inland Revenue from 1918 to 1923, Customs and Excise from 1923 to 1927 and Revenue Department from 1927 to 1999. They are most visible at 117 land border crossings and 13 international airports between Canada and US, but are also founded at 3 seaports, 3 mail centres within Canada.
4,931 posts, of which nine are directorate officers, 3,804 are members of the Customs and Excise Department, 504 are Trade Controls Officers and 614 are staff of the General and Common Grades.
Hong Kong is one of the busiest container ports in the world. It handled 20.4 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) in 2003. Of these, 12.1 million TEUs were handled at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. In 2003, 70,910 ocean-going ships and 365,190 coastal vessels entered and left Hong Kong.
Ships and vessels are subject to customs check. Cargoes are either examined on board sea freighters or after off-loading.
In 2004, a total of 8.6 million passengers arrived in Hong Kong from the Mainland and Macau by sea and by helicopters. They were processed at the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui and the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Central. In addition, a daily average of 49 helicopter flights between Hong Kong and Macau are operated at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal. Four Customs launches conduct maritime patrol in the territorial waters round the clock whereas four high-speed pursuit crafts and two shallow water patrol launches are employed to carry out interception at sea.
The C&ED is an active member of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It exchanges intelligence and works closely with overseas customs administrations and law enforcement agencies. The department has also entered bilateral Cooperative Arrangements with other customs authorities on administrative assistance. At the working level, the department and the China Customs have each established designated liaison officers to facilitate the exchange of intelligence through direct telephone hotlines.
 | This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.(November 2010) |
In ancient usage a "customer" was a person to whom the right to collect customs in a particular port had been granted by the crown, often for a consideration in the form of a farm (an arrangement whereby one rents the income that derives from a revenue stream).
Officers working for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the UK Border Force collect a range of taxes and duties, control imported and exported goods, and prevent banned items from entering or leaving the United Kingdom.
The powers of customs officers ("officers") derive from the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. Officers are appointed by the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs, who are in turn appointed by the King. [1] Failure to return a commission by an officer is an offence, [2] as is imitating [3] or obstructing [4] an officer. Officers at ports are now officially part of the Border Force (Home Office) and as such have their powers conferred by the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. [5]
At any time, any officer may board and search: [6]
Officers shall have free access to every part of any ship or aircraft at a port or aerodrome and of any vehicle as described above or is brought to a customs and excise station, and may:
Carrying away an officer is an offence. [7]
Officers may inspect aircraft and aerodromes, [8] and prevent the departure of aircraft if they have not given their permission for them to depart. [9] They may stop ships in UK territorial waters for the purposes of checking that they have been cleared to leave the UK. [10]
Officers may examine any goods carried or to be carried in a coasting ships at any time while they are on board the ship, or at any place in the United Kingdom to which the goods have been brought for shipment in, or at which they have been unloaded from, the ship. [11]
Officers may ask questions with respect to the baggage of people entering or leaving the United Kingdom and any thing contained therein or carried with them. [12] They may inspect such baggage. [12] Since the amendments to CEMA 1979 inserted by the Policing and Crime Act 2009 Officers may also require a person entering or leaving the United Kingdom to produce a Passport (or National ID Card when that may be used as an alternative) and answer questions about their journey. [13] Any person entering the UK from outside the EU who fails to declare any thing or to produce any baggage or thing as required (unless it they are entitled to exemption from duty and tax by virtue of any order under section 13 of the Customs and Excise Duties (General Reliefs) Act 1979) commits an offence. [12] Any thing chargeable with any duty or tax which is found concealed, or is not declared, and any thing which is being taken into or out of the UK contrary to any prohibition or restriction can be seized. [12]
Officers on anti-smuggling duties may haul up, leave or moor vessels where they wish. [14] They may also enter any part of the coast (or of the shore or bank of any river or creek), railway or aerodrome (or land adjoining any aerodrome), and over any land in Northern Ireland within the prescribed area. [14] They may not, however, enter any garden or pleasure ground. [14]
An officer may board or enter any ship, aircraft, vehicle, house or place and take such steps as are reasonably necessary to stop or prevent the sending of a signal or message connected with smuggling. [15]
Officers may seize:
Officers may fire upon ships liable to forfeiture or examination where they have failed to bring to after the commander of any vessel in the service of Her Majesty has hoisted the proper ensign and caused a gun to be fired as a signal and chase has been given. [19]
Officers may ask any person entering or leaving a free trade zone (as designated by the Treasury) questions with respect to any goods. That person shall, if required by the officer, produce those goods for examination at such place as the Commissioners may direct. [20] Officers may board a vehicle at any time while it is entering or leaving a free trade zone search any part of it. [20] Officers may, at any time, enter upon and inspect a free trade zone and all buildings and goods within the zone. [20]
Officers may enter any premises, vehicles, vessels, aircraft, hovercraft or structures used in connection with an excise licence, and may inspect the premises and search for, examine and take account of any machinery, vehicles, vessels, utensils, goods or materials belonging to or in any way connected with that trade. [21] Officers must be accompanied by a constable at night. [21] If the premises are those of a distiller, rectifier, compounder, brewer for sale, producer of wine, producer of made-wine, maker of cider or occupier of an excise warehouse, an officer, after having demanded admission into the premises and declared his name and business at the entrance may break open any door or window of the premises or break through any wall for the purpose of obtaining admission. [21] Officers or people acting in their aid must be accompanied by a constable at night. [21]
If an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that any secret pipe or other means of conveyance, cock, vessel or utensil is kept or used by a distiller, rectifier, compounder, registered brewer, producer of wine, producer of made-wine and maker of cider, that officer may, at any time, break open any part of the premises of that trader and forcibly enter them and so far as is reasonably necessary break up the ground in or adjoining those premises or any wall thereof to search for that pipe or other means of conveyance, cock, vessel or utensil. [22]
If the officer finds any such pipe or other form of conveyance leading to or from the trader's premises, he may enter any other premises from or into which it leads, and so far as is reasonably necessary break up any part of those other premises to trace its course, and may cut it away and turn any cock thereon, and examine whether it conveys or conceals any goods chargeable with a duty of excise, or any materials used in the manufacture of such goods, in such manner as to prevent a true account thereof from being taken. [22] Every such pipe or other means of conveyance, cock, vessel or utensil as mentioned, and all goods chargeable with a duty of excise or materials for the manufacture of such goods found therein, may be seized. [22] Officers must be accompanied by a constable at night, and damage caused by unsuccessful searches shall be made good by the Commissioners. [22]
Officers may, at a reasonable time of day, enter any premises used for the conduct of a business. [23] If they have reasonable cause to believe that any premises are used for gaming to which section 10 of the Finance Act 1997 (gaming duty) applies or are used in connection with the supply, importation or exportation of goods of a class or description chargeable with a duty of excise and that any such goods are on those premises, they may inspect those premises and any goods found on them. [23] If they believe serious fraud is occurring in connection with such gaming, they may obtain a court warrant to enter the premises using reasonable force. [23]
Officers may detain any person who has committed, or whom there are reasonable grounds to suspect of having committed, any offence for which he is liable to be detained under the customs and excise Acts at any time within 20 years from the date of the commission of the offence. [24] Officers may seize any ship, aircraft, vehicle, animal, container (including any article of passengers’ baggage) or other thing which has been used for the carriage, handling, deposit or concealment of any thing that has become liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts, or any other thing mixed, packed or found with the thing so liable. [25] They may also seize all the tackle, apparel or furniture in any ship, aircraft, vehicle or animal that has become liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts. [25] Ships (but not their contents) of over 250 tons (but not hovercraft) are exempt unless the voyage itself was the offence that caused the seizure, or the ship was being chased. [26]
Officers may "examine and take account of" any goods: [27]
Officers may take samples of certain goods, [28] enter premises with a writ of assistance [29] or search warrant [30] and stop and search vehicles or vessels where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they are carrying or may be carrying any goods which are: [31]
Officers may detain people to search their possessions for dutiable alcoholic liquor, or tobacco products, which are chargeable with any duty of excise, and liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts. [32]
If an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that
is carrying any article which is chargeable with any duty which has not been paid or secured or (if being imported or exported) of which any prohibition or restriction is in force, they may detain them and search them. [33] This search may be a rub down, strip or intimate search, and must be approved by a superior officer or justice of the peace. [33]
In Sri Lanka, as per the Customs Ordinance, enforcement is carried out by the Sri Lanka Customs headed by the Director General of Customs. [34] They wear an all white (without insignia) or khaki (with insignia) uniform.
In the United States, a customs officer is a federal law enforcement officer working to enforce customs laws as well as over 400 laws for other federal agencies. Customs officers enforce these laws for every person or thing that enters or leaves U.S. Among their many functions are detecting and confiscating contraband, making sure that import duties are paid, and preventing those without legal authorization from entering the United States. In the past, American customs officers were part of the Department of the Treasury, the oldest law enforcement agency in the U.S., dating back to 1789. U.S. Customs (CBP) is the second highest revenue collector in the United States through fines, collection of duties, and illegal money seized; only the IRS collects more money for the federal government. Every day, on average, U.S. Customs arrests 135 suspects of different crimes, seizes 2,313 pounds of narcotics, confiscate 196 firearms, intercept 210 fraudulent documents, prevents 54 criminal aliens from entering the U.S., and detains one suspected terrorist. Customs officers need no probable cause to search, detain, or seize anything or any person. Today customs officers work for the Department of Homeland Security within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations. They are present at every international airport, seaport, and all land border crossings.
HM Customs and Excise was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the collection of customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes.
The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) is a government agency responsible for the protection of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region against smuggling; the protection and collection of revenue on dutiable goods on behalf of the Hong Kong Government; the detection and deterrence of drug trafficking and abuse of controlled drugs; the protection of intellectual property rights; the protection of consumer interests; and the protection and facilitation of legitimate trade and upholding Hong Kong's trading integrity.
A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the latter case a customs bond must be posted with the government. This system is widely used in developed countries throughout the world.
HM Customs was the national Customs service of England until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use since the Middle Ages, referred both to the customs dues themselves and to the office of state established for their collection, assessment and administration.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is a law-enforcement agency within the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the border control agency responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in Singapore.
His or Her Majesty's Excise refers to 'inland' duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture. Excise duty was first raised in England in 1643. Like HM Customs, the Excise was administered by a Board of Commissioners who were accountable to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. While 'HM Revenue of Excise' was a phrase used in early legislation to refer to this form of duty, the body tasked with its collection and general administration was usually known as the Excise Office.
The Treasury of the Isle of Man is the finance department of the Isle of Man Government. It prepares the annual budget for the Government, and also handles taxation, customs and excise, economic affairs, information systems, internal audit, currency and the census in the Isle of Man.
A water bailiff is a law-enforcement officer responsible for the policing of bodies of water, such as a river, lake or coast. The position has existed in many jurisdictions throughout history.
The Royal Malaysian Customs Department is a government department body under the Malaysian Ministry of Finance. RMCD functions as the country's main indirect tax collector, facilitating trade and enforcing laws. The top management of JKDM is led by the Director General of Customs and assisted by 3 deputies, namely, the Deputy Director General of Customs Enforcement/Compliance Division, the Deputy Director General of Customs Customs/Inland Tax Division and the Deputy Chief Director of Customs Management Division. The Royal Malaysian Customs Department consists of several divisions, namely the Enforcement Division, the Inland Tax Division, the Compliance Division, the Customs Division, and the Technical Services Division.
County Court bailiffs are employees of Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service and are responsible for enforcing orders of the County Court by recovering money owed under County Court judgments. Bailiffs can seize and sell goods to recover the amount of the debt. They can also serve court documents and effect and supervise the possession of property and the return of goods under hire purchase agreements.
The powers of the police in England and Wales are defined largely by statute law, with the main sources of power being the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Police Act 1996. This article covers the powers of police officers of territorial police forces only, but a police officer in one of the UK's special police forces can utilise extended jurisdiction powers outside of their normal jurisdiction in certain defined situations as set out in statute. In law, police powers are given to constables. All police officers in England and Wales are "constables" in law whatever their rank. Certain police powers are also available to a limited extent to police community support officers and other non warranted positions such as police civilian investigators or designated detention officers employed by some police forces even though they are not constables.
The offshore off-licence is the name coined by the media to describe a 2004 venture to bring "tax- and duty-free" alcohol and cigarettes to Teesside, England, by selling the imported goods from a boat anchored just outside the UK's 12-mile limit. Two businessmen, Phil Berriman and Trevor Lyons, a maritime law expert, used the latter's 72-foot staysail schooner Rich Harvest to transport large quantities of cigarettes and spirits from Heligoland to Hartlepool. The vessel was anchored a little more than 12 miles offshore, and people from Hartlepool came out in private boats to buy the untaxed goods. Customers would then ostensibly be allowed to bring their purchases into the UK using their duty-free allowance.
The Directorate of Customs is the national customs service of Iceland. The Directorate of Customs is the law enforcement agency, which is in charge of not only the collection of customs duties, but also the detection of smuggling and confiscation of counterfeit items entering Iceland.
Border Force (BF) is a law-enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its establishment in 2008 until Home Secretary Theresa May demerged it in March 2012 after severe criticism of the senior management.
The Union List, also known as List-I, is a list of 97 numbered items given in Seventh Schedule in the Constitution of India on which Parliament has exclusive power to legislate. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, State List and Concurrent List. In India, residual powers remain with the Central Government. This makes the government of India similar to the Canadian federal government, and different from the governments of the United States, Switzerland, or Australia.
The Border Guard Unit is a national security and paramilitary unit of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). Established in October 1964, BGU's primary role is to guard Ghana's international borders during peacetime and prevent trans-border crime.
The Slave Trade Act of 1800 was a law passed by the United States Congress to build upon the Slave Trade Act of 1794, limiting American involvement in the trade of human cargo. It was signed into law by President John Adams on May 10, 1800. This was among several acts of Congress that eventually outlawed the importation of slaves to the United States. The owning of slaves, and the domestic trade, would later be made illegal throughout the U.S. by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 following the American Civil War.
Taxation in Malta is levied by the State and it is administered by the Commissioner for Revenue. The total tax revenues in 2014 amounted to €2.747 Billion, which represents 34.6% of the Maltese GDP. The main sources of tax revenue were value-added tax, income tax, and social security contributions.
An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego or Act prohibiting Commerce and Trade with the Barbodoes, Antigo, Virginia, and Bermudas alias Summer's Islands was an Act of law passed by the Rump Parliament of England during the Interregnum against English colonies which sided with the Crown in the English Civil War.
Kenya's taxation system covers income tax, value-added tax, customs and excise duty. The regulations are governed by independent legislators that govern the taxation system, the main legislator, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has different sections that deal with the above taxes while also having the authority to undertake reviews on various companies and corporations. The main goal of the system is to enhance tax compliance through simplified and efficient tax administration.
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