What does custom mean?

Customs is a state organ, which is responsible for collecting and protecting customs duties and controlling the entry and exit logistics of animals, plants, property and dangerous goods. According to local laws and regulations, the import and export of certain goods may be restricted or prohibited, and the customs declaration agent shall implement these laws and regulations [1]. In most countries, customs has been authorized by the government and permitted by international law.

Customs duty is a charge or tax levied when goods enter (common) or leave (uncommon). In Britain, tariffs are a representative part of the king's constant income, so unlike consumption tax, land tax and other types of taxes, they do not need the consent of parliament to be levied.

Goods that have not passed customs clearance are stored in customs areas, usually called bonded warehouses, until the customs clearance procedures are completed. All authorized ports are regarded as customs zones.

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Customs (responsible for goods inspection) is different from the entry-exit administration (responsible for natural person inspection). For example, the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of China, the National Immigration Bureau of People's Republic of China (PRC) (Chinese mainland), the Immigration Department of Hong Kong, and the Immigration Department of Macao Public Security Police.

It belongs to the entry-exit administration department, usually the government's internal affairs or police department, and is responsible for monitoring the entry and exit of individuals, checking the relevant documents of passengers, arresting fugitives wanted by international arrest warrants, and preventing individuals considered dangerous from entering the country.

As customs involves customs duties and taxes, it usually belongs to the financial department of the government, and only monitors and checks the articles entering and leaving the country, and does not check passengers and their travel documents. Some countries, such as Singapore, merged the entry-exit and customs units into the Immigration and Checkpoint Bureau, and the United States also became the Customs and Border Protection Bureau, but the entry-exit and customs are still handled by different contractors.

The Japanese call customs "tax customs", which is borrowed from the tax customs in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The word "customs" in modern Chinese comes from the customs of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jianghai, which were established in the coastal trading ports in the Qing Dynasty.

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