Norwegian Customs ( no, Tolletaten) is a Norwegian

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 ...

under the Ministry of Finance with responsibility for "protecting society against illegal importation and exportation of goods and to ensure government revenues by correct and timely payment of duties and taxes". Since 2017, the agency has been run by customs director

Øystein Børmer Øystein is a Norwegian given name of Old Norse origins. One of its variants is Östen which is mostly used in Sweden. Notable people with the name include: * Øystein Aarseth (1968–1993), Norwegian guitarist (pseudonym Euronymous), co-founder ...

Organization

The agency is organized into a central directorate, The Directorate of Norwegian Customs (in Norwegian ''Tolldirektoratet''), and six customs regions. The directorate's role is to develop customs regulations, support of the customs regions, and to act as the point of contact for the public. The headquarters of the directorate are located in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In addition to customs services, the agency is responsible for performing tasks on behalf of other government agencies at the border, for example border control.

History

Customs in Norway has a long history. Already during Harald Fairhair's reign (c. 865-933), customs were collected in the cities on behalf of the king on all imported and exported goods. Collection of customs continued through the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, but there were still no designated customs officers. During the 1500s, customs were mainly collected by the

lensmann in modern Norwegian or in Danish and older Norwegian spelling (; ) is a term with several distinct meanings in Nordic history. The Icelandic equivalent was a . Fief-holder The term traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark ...

, and by the 1630s a separate customs agency was established. Under

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

rule, Norwegian Customs were allowed to operate independently. Closer to the end of the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, the amtmenn (who were selected by the Danish king) had a supervisory role over the customs offices. Following Norway's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1814, the customs offices were under the control of different ministries, before it finally was put under the control of the Ministry of Finance in 1818. From 1929 to 1956

Wilhelm Ohlandt Wilhelm Ohlandt (15 October 1886 – ??) was a Norwegian civil servant. He served as a deputy under-secretary of state in the Norwegian Ministry of Finance from 1929 to 1956, heading the customs department. For his long service he was decorated wit ...

was head of the customs department. In 1957, the customs service was centralized into one agency, The Norwegian Directorate of Customs, which in 1974 changed its name to The Norwegian Directorate of Excise and Customs. In 2015, the role of collecting excise and Value-added tax was transferred to the Norwegian Tax Administration. Following this change, the name was changed to Customs Norway.

Customs regions

*Customs region of Oslo and Akershus,

*Customs region of Eastern Norway,

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

*Customs region of Southern Norway,

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

*Customs region of Western Norway,

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

*Customs region of Central Norway,

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

*Customs region of Northern Norway,

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

References

External links

www.toll.no
Official site
About Norwegian Customs

Customs Clearanceemma.no
Customs Services

Customs 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 ...

Norw {{Norway-stub