Customs border
Customs border in the country
The border of a customs area is called the customs border . Behind the customs border is the customs border district or the area near the border.
The customs area is often identical to the national territory , but not always. That is why the customs border is not always identical to the national border . One example is the municipality of Samnaun , which lies on the Swiss / Austrian border . It belongs to the national territory of Switzerland , but not to its customs territory. In this case, the customs border runs within the state border. The enclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein, which is completely enclosed by Swiss territory, belongs to the national territory of Germany, but lies in the Swiss customs area .
The customs border is monitored by the customs authorities . In Germany, this is done by the border inspection service of the Federal Customs Administration and in some cases also by the Federal Police .
The EU forms a customs union and as a result has a common customs area with a common external border. Within the EU, the national borders are therefore no longer customs borders.
Customs controls take place at almost every customs border . Within the EU there are only customs controls at the external borders. B. at international airports, free port crossings or sea customs ports.
Maritime customs limit
The maritime customs border describes the "seaward limitation of the customs territory of the Community".
On the sea side, the customs limit corresponds to the outer limit of the 12-mile zone . In addition to the land areas and the technically usable subsoil, the coastal waters up to an extent of twelve nautical miles (corresponds to 22.224 km) from the baseline , as well as the airspace at the altitude that can be reached by conventional aircraft , also belong to the customs area of the Community. The maritime customs limit also includes fixed structures extending into the sea, such as harbor walls, piers, dams, groynes, jetties, jetties, loading docks and landing stages. Islands off the coast within the 12 miles are also part of the customs area. However, Heligoland is not one of them , as it is further away from the coast.
Customs union
A union of states that form a common customs area is called a customs union . Certain or all of the customs borders are eliminated between them.
The elimination or the creation of new customs borders can have major economic effects:
- in the course of the continental blockade (1806), Napoleon tried to protect the French economy against any European and transatlantic competition. The protectionist package of measures also included ' protective tariffs '.
- Around 1865 the Polish customs border with Russia fell away because the Tsarist Empire had annexed Poland. This brought the formerly Polish areas a rapid economic upswing, which lasted until the First World War.
- The German-Austrian customs union was a project of the German Empire and the Republic of Austria in 1930 and 1931. It met with vigorous protests from the governments of France , Italy and Czechoslovakia because there was an annexation of Austria and a hegemonic position of Germany in Central and Southeastern Europe seemed to be preparing. The British government was also hostile to the project because it increased international tensions. The plan for a customs union failed in the late summer of 1931 when the French government took advantage of Austria's financial straits during the global economic crisis and made international loan assistance dependent on the project being abandoned.
Others
A customs border works not only through the customs duties levied on it, but also through other factors: time is lost when customs are levied, administrative costs arise (e.g. wage costs for customs officers, see also transaction costs ). The free port in Hamburg was canceled at the beginning of 2013. Countless surveillance procedures when entering and leaving the free port could thus be dispensed with. In addition, a customs border can also be a non-tariff trade barrier . For example, France hindered the import of certain goods for years by leaving import applications for months and not processing them.
Although the World Trade Organization (WTO) forbade the establishment and maintenance of non-tariff trade barriers, these were introduced to a large extent as a substitute for tariff barriers (especially tariffs). The industrialized countries in particular often use high standards to discriminate against foreign suppliers. These standards should - actually and / or allegedly - serve to protect the consumer from inferior or bad goods through norms and standards.
See also
- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT = General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) - entered into force on 1 January 1948
Individual evidence
- ↑ § 2 Customs Ordinance (Customs Roads)
- ↑ Article 3 Paragraph 3 CC
- ↑ Dissolution of the free port of Hamburg on January 1, 2013 ( memento from August 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 3, 2015.