Swedish Customs Service

The Swedish Customs (

Customs duties have existed in Sweden since the twelfth century, and the current organisation was created in 1636. During this period, the Swedish administration was being developed as Sweden was then a great power. The first Collector-General or Head of Customs was Mårten Augustinsson.^[3]

Another clear trend is the growing trade with other countries with the aid of new technology, such as the internet. Goods ordered from countries outside the EU through the internet are also subject to duty and other charges.[3]

Upon joining the

Approximately 75 million travellers, ships, containers and vehicles cross Sweden's frontiers every year.[4] Swedish Customs works in the midst of this flow of goods and people.

The work of Swedish Customs within the law enforcement field extends across the entire chain of a criminal investigation, from intelligence and checks at the customs channel to a completed preliminary investigation. Border protection officers, customs investigators and customs prosecutors work together to combat criminal activity. Customs officers have the right to stop and search individuals, interview, investigate and to search premises.^[4] Customs officers can also be trained to be a Search Dog handler.^[5] When the dog retires, at about 10 years of age, the customs officer is offered the dog as a gift, and then can continue, either as a dog handler with another dog, a dog handling instructor, or a regular customs officer.

Alongside law enforcement there are many officers who work in the legal flow to ensure that customs duties and taxes are paid correctly and in time. This work involves not only collecting duties but also the supervising of customs warehouses, special procedures, import or export licenses and authorisations necessary for the declared goods. Furthermore, Swedish Customs have a role to help other authorities to collect certain information e.g. to produce trade statistics on import and export. This is usually done via the Customs declarations which are processed when goods are released through Customs.

Ranks

General Customs Director	Director General	Head of Department	Chief of Operations Management	Head of Border Department	Deputy Head of Border Department
Commanding Officer	Group Chief	Deputy Group Chief	Customs Inspector, 5 years	Customs Inspector	Customs Trainee

References

External links

• Official website
• Customs officers: "We want to carry weapons" (
  Radio Sweden
  website)