What is customs and what does the term customs mean?
The term customs is used for various things:
- The customs office, point of entry for goods in free circulation,
- The tax that may be incurred when importing goods
If goods and raw materials are imported into the EU from a third country, they must be declared to a customs office. This customs office can be located directly at the place where the goods enter the EU, such as the port of Hamburg or Frankfurt airport. This customs office is referred to as the customs office of entry.
However, the imported goods can also be declared at a domestic customs office first. Since duty unpaid goods may not simply be transported through the EU, a special transport document must be created for them. With this document, the goods may then be transported from the customs office of entry to the customs office of import, where they are then cleared through customs.
The situation is similar for the export of goods, where the customs offices are called export and exit customs offices.
The customs levy - what is it?
Customs duties are incurred when importing goods from a third country. These usually correspond to a percentage of the value of the goods, but can also apply to quantities by weight or number of items.
