Customs is the public and / or fiscal office that, often under the orders of a State or political government, is established on coasts and borders with the purpose of registering, managing and regulating the international traffic of goods and products that enter and leave. from a country.
The purpose of customs is multiple and, among other things, it is in charge of controlling the traffic of material goods that are imported and exported, collecting taxes and fees from individual or collective entities.
In addition to the control over merchandise, customs also regulates the traffic - entry and exit - of people and capital to a country, although these do not constitute its main functions, since there are other institutions oriented to such ends, for example, the banking system. .
Customs is made up of customs agents, which is the person authorized by the national government to control the entry of goods and determine the collection value that the interested party must pay for them.
Customs administration of goods takes place through the customs duty or customs duty, which refers to that fee or cost that the owner of the products must pay to allow them to enter the country without being detained by customs security. But they also look at those products that leave the country. Rates are arranged in accordance with Customs policies and a regulation is established that sets a price for each type of product: for example, technological, consumer, cultural goods, etc.
One of the reasons why a customs duty is charged is that they constitute tariff items that are for the exclusive use of the country's government and, ultimately, imply an important source of income for public policies. At the same time, these practices provide protection for national production, since imposing taxes that make foreign merchandise more expensive would contribute to the consumption of goods manufactured within the country. Ultimately, the existence of a customs office also allows regulated practices and within the framework of the law, preventing the traffic of illegal products across borders.
When these regulations are taken to the extreme, they speak of prohibitionism or protectionism. While the more liberal and flexible practices on the entry and exit of goods evoke a context of capitalist free trade that has been favored in recent decades from globalization.
