Main functions of customs bodies of Republic of Belarus

(The Customs Code of the Republic of Belarus, Article 10)
Customs bodies of the Republic of Belarus are to perform the following main functions:

1. to participate in the development of the customs policy of the Republic of Belarus and to implement the aforementioned policy;

2. to secure the observance of laws, which fulfillment is to be overseen by customs bodies of the Republic of Belarus;

3. to take measures to protect the rights and interests of citizens, companies, establishments and organizations during customs clearance procedures;

4. to ensure, within their competence, economic security of the Republic of Belarus, which is an economic basis of the sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus;

5. to protect the economic interests of the Republic of Belarus;

6. to provide customs services to regulate trade-economic relations;

7. to collect customs duties, taxes and other customs payments;

8. to participate in the development of economic measures with regard to the goods transported through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus;

9. to ensure the due observance of administrative procedures of transportation of goods and vehicles through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus;

10. to take measures to protect the intellectual property rights when goods are transported through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus;
(Art.10 item 9-1 enforced by Law#71-3 of the Republic of Belarus of December 4, 2001)

11. to combat smuggling, prevent administrative customs violations, illegal transportation of narcotic substances through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus, arms, pieces of art, historical and archeological articles of the Republic of Belarus and foreign states, intellectual property objects, endangered species of animals and plants, their parts and derivatives and other goods, to render assistance to special agencies in the fight against crime and in the prevention of unwarranted interference in activities of the international civil aviation in the airports of the Republic of Belarus;

12. to exercise and improve customs control and customs clearance procedures; to create an enabling environment to speed up trade turnover through the customs border of the Republic of Belarus;

13. to keep customs statistics on foreign trade and special customs statistics;

14. to keep statistics on Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity;

15. to promote foreign economic links, to take measures to ensure national security, public order and morality and to protect life and health of citizens, animals and plants, environment, the interests of domestic consumers of imported goods;

16. to exercise control over the export of strategic and other materials, which are of vital importance for the Republic of Belarus and to exercise currency control within their competence;

17. to ensure the fulfillment of international obligations undertaken by the Republic of Belarus with regard to customs procedures; to participate in drawing up international treaties of the Republic of Belarus related to customs procedures; to cooperate with customs and other law-enforcement bodies of foreign states and international organizations handling customs cooperation issues;

18. to carry out R&D and hold consultations on customs issues, train, retrain and upgrade skills of customs officials for state bodies, companies, establishments and organizations;

19 to inform the President, the Parliament, the Government and other state agencies of the Republic of Belarus, companies, establishments, organizations and the public on customs issues;

20 to implement single financial and economic policy, to develop logistics and social infrastructure of customs bodies, to create optimal working conditions for employees of the customs agencies.

The Republic of Belarus has been pursuing uniform customs policy as part of its domestic and foreign policy.

The goals of the customs policy of the Republic of Belarus are to ensure the most efficient use of the tools of customs control and regulation of commodity exchange on the customs territory of the Republic of Belarus, to protect Belarusian market, to foster development of the Belarusian economy, promote structural reforms and fulfillment of other tasks of the economic policy of the Republic of Belarus, achieve other goals set by the President, the Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Belarus in line with the effective Code and other legal acts of the Republic of Belarus.

The Republic of Belarus seeks to play an active role in international cooperation in customs issues. The Republic of Belarus aspires to harmonize and unify its customs legislation with international standards.

The main instruments of the Belarusian customs policy are:

• - tariff and non-tariff measures of the state customs regulation;
  - state customs control over customs bodies of the Republic of Belarus;
• - participation of the Republic of Belarus in customs unions and other forms of economic integration with other countries.

Customs bodies have been endowed with the functions that enable them to organize legal regulation of foreign economic activities and customs procedures with a view to meeting the targets of the national customs policy.

The main targets of the customs service development today are raising efficiency of customs administration and creation of favourable conditions for economic entities by improving quality of their servicing.

Keeping pace with the economic development of the country the customs service employs the following tools:

• simplification and computerization of customs services (preliminary declaration; temporary freight customs declarations; green and red corridors for natural persons; e-filling of freight customs declarations);
• raising the level of observation of customs legislation and enhancing the efficiency of counteracting customs offences;
• creation of the border infrastructure meeting European standards.