The Finnish Customs ( fi, Tulli, sv, Tull) is the

customs service Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

of the

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. It is a

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

steered by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

. The Finnish Customs is a part of the customs system of the European Union and has around 1,900 employees.

History

February 12 Events Pre-1600 * 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna. * 1429 – English forces und ...

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo is st ...

, the founding of The General Customs Directorate of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...

was approved by

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

as the

Grand Duke of Finland Grand Duke of Finland, or, more accurately, the Grand Prince of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinas, sv, Storfurste av Finland, rus, Великий князь Финляндский, r=Velikiy knyaz' Finlyandskiy, p=vʲɪˈlʲikɪj knʲæsʲ f� ...

. By the

1850s The 1850s (pronounced "eighteen-fifties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1850, and ended on December 31, 1859. It was a very turbulent decade, as wars such as the Crimean War, shifted and shook European politi ...

customs duties A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

' share of total state

tax revenue Tax revenue is the income that is collected by governments through taxation. Taxation is the primary source of government revenue. Revenue may be extracted from sources such as individuals, public enterprises, trade, royalties on natural resour ...

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 The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, and thus the transition to the customs service of an independent Finland in 1917 was smooth. Customs duties formed the backbone of the Finnish state economy until the

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central United States become dry an ...

, but the fiscal importance of duties has decreased drastically due to the international reduction or elimination of trade barriers since the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

. Finland joined the EU and its Customs Union in 1995, but this caused no significant challenges for Finnish Customs.

Current activities

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 An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

goods. It also compiles the

official statistics Official statistics are statistics published by government agencies or other public bodies such as international organizations as a public good. They provide quantitative or qualitative information on all major areas of citizens' lives, such as ...

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significa ...

X-ray_scanner_truck_at_Nuijamaa_border_crossing

Directors

Gustaf Hjärne Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

1812–1816 * Claes Jakob Gripenberg 1816–1822 *

Jacob Snellman Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Isla ...

1822–1828 *

Julius Conrad Antell The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain t ...

1828–1831 *

Christian Avellan Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

1831–1841 *

Berndt Federley Berndt is a surname and can refer to: * Arthur Berndt * Bruce C. Berndt *Catherine Berndt * Doug Berndt *Jerry Berndt *John Berndt * Jule Berndt, American Lutheran clergyman and politician * Helmut Berndt * Marianne Berndt * Ronald Berndt *Sonja Ber ...

1841–1847 * Carl Gustaf Enckell 1848–1849 * Frans Olof af Brunér 1849–1855 * Johan August von Born 1855–1865 * Konstantin Wikman 1865–1881 * Herman Peter Höckert 1881–1890 * Birger Fridolf Winter 1890–1901 * Bernhard Anton Harald Indrenius 1902–1903 * Knut Gustaf Nikolai Borgenström 1903–1905 * Eugraf Nyman 1905–1907 * T. J. Boisman 1907–1910 * Axel Fabian af Enehjelm 1910–1915 * Pavel Strauch 1915–1917 * Wilhelm Gabriel Poppius 1917–1935 *

Ilmari Killinen Ilmari is a Finnish male given name. It is a short form of Ilmarinen, a mythological smith in the Kalevala. Notable people with the name include: * Ilmari Aalto (1891–1934), Finnish painter * Ilmari Auer (1879–1965), Finnish politician *Ilmari ...

1936–1942 * Eljas Kahra 1942–1945 * Auno Halonen 1945–1951 * Nikolai Saarnio 1951–1968 * Jorma Uitto 1968–1988 * Jermu Laine 1988–1994 * Berndt Olof Johansson 1994–1998 * Tapani Erling 1998–2012 * Antti Hartikainen 2012 * Antti Hartikainen 2012–2013 * Leo Nissinen 2013–2019 * Hannu Mäkinen 2019–current

References

External links

* {{Government agencies and public bodies of Finland Customs services Government agencies of Finland

History

Current activities

Directors

See also

References

External links