Finnish Customs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Finnish Customs
Tulli/Tull
File:Finnish Customs logo.svg
Agency overview
FormedFebruary 12, 1812
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionFinland
Specialist jurisdiction
Operational structure
HeadquartersHelsinki
Parent agencyMinistry of Finance

Finnish Customs (Finnish: Tulli, Swedish: Tull) is the customs service of the Republic of Finland. It is a government agency steered by the Ministry of Finance. The Finnish Customs is a part of the customs system of the European Union and has around 1,900 employees.[1]

History

[edit | edit source]
File:I.K. Inha, Helsinki d2005 132 736 (16369376741).jpg
Customs warehouse building on Katajanokka in Helsinki, Finland (1908)
File:Drug-detection-dog-Finland-1971.jpg
The Finnish Customs demonstrating drug detection with the dog Eka (1971)

On February 12, 1812, the founding of The General Customs Directorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland was approved by Alexander I of Russia as the Grand Duke of Finland. By the 1850s, customs duties' share of total tax revenue was over 40 percent. The directorate was renamed the Board of Customs in 1881. The customs service of the Grand Duchy of Finland was autonomous from the customs service of the Russian Empire, and thus the transition to the customs service of an independent Finland in 1917 was smooth.[2]

Customs duties formed the backbone of the Finnish state economy until the 1930s, but the fiscal importance of duties has decreased drastically due to the international reduction or elimination of trade barriers since the 1950s. Finland joined the EU and its Customs Union in 1995, but this caused no significant challenges for Finnish Customs.[2]

Current activities

[edit | edit source]

The tasks of Finnish Customs include the facilitation of the trade in goods, the protection of society and the environment, and the collection of customs duties, charges and taxes on import goods. It also compiles the official statistics on international trade.[1]

File:X-ray scanner truck at Nuijamaa border crossing.jpg
An X-ray scanner truck at the Nuijamaa border crossing
File:Helsinki 2009 PD 0088.JPG
Finnish Customs patrol boat in Helsinki (2009)
File:2018-08-30 Åland by Olaf Kosinsky 7788.jpg
Volkswagen Transporter patrol unit of the Finnish Customs

Directors

[edit | edit source]

See also

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
[edit | edit source]
  • Lua error in Module:Official_website at line 94: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).