What is Cyprus Customs? Cyprus Customs Review

history

Duties and taxes in Cyprus date back to very ancient times. Throughout the years, a system of "customs" and other taxes has operated in one form or another.

Customs in its current form dates back to 1878, when the Ottoman Empire leased the island to Britain following the Treaty of Berlin. Once again, a new tariff system was introduced on the island. The British customs system is more modern, more efficient, fairer and more rational than the previous one.

In 1960, Cyprus became an independent state and the customs continued to operate as before under the new state. The customs staff consisted of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

In 1967, the department was reorganised under the guidance of a group of British customs experts and new, modern legislation was introduced at that time. Departmental instructions drafted in accordance with the new legislation provided valuable guidance to customs officers in the performance of their duties.

On 19 December 1972, the Republic of Cyprus signed an Association Agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC), which provided for the establishment of a Customs Union in two stages. The first stage ended in 1987, with all objectives achieved. The Protocol, which provided for the transition to the second stage of the Agreement, i.e. the completion of the Customs Union in two stages, entered into force on 1 January 1988, but was never concluded, as Cyprus' application for membership of the EU was submitted on 4 July 1990.

The Commission, in its opinion on the application submitted on 30 June 1993 and approved by the Council on 17 October of the same year, considered Cyprus eligible for membership. Since then, several decisions of the EU institutions have led to the start of negotiations between Cyprus and the EU.

On May 1, 2004, Cyprus and nine other countries joined the European Union.

Since then, the Department has actively participated in various meetings of the Council and the European Commission, as well as in relevant working groups, with the aim of providing timely information, discussing, resolving issues, developing Community legislation and related implementing provisions. In addition, the Department cooperates with other customs authorities, European and international organizations (such as the World Customs Organization, Europol, European Anti-Fraud Office - OLAF) and participates in various joint customs operations aimed at combating the smuggling of dutiable goods, drug trafficking and compliance with customs legislation.

Main duties and responsibilities

● levy and collection of import duties, excise taxes and value-added tax (VAT) on imported goods;

● Control the movement of coordinated goods from other Member States to Cyprus and vice versa, and the levy and collection of excise duties and value added tax on such goods;

● Control the movement of goods from areas of the Republic of Cyprus not under the effective control of the Government of Cyprus to areas of the Republic of Cyprus under the effective control of the Government of Cyprus, in particular under the current EU legal framework;

● Actively participate in EU institutions and committees;

● Ensure the security of the commodity supply chain;

● Implement bans and restrictions on the import, export and transit of items such as drugs of abuse, precursor chemicals, firearms and weapons, including “dual-use” items and embargoes;

● Implement bans and restrictions on the import, export, and transit of endangered species of plants and animals, cultural relics, intellectual property, counterfeit goods, and pornographic and other offensive material;

● Protecting consumers’ health and safety from substandard goods;

● Monitoring the movement of highly rated products (primarily cigarettes);

● Control of export tax rebates under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP);

● Control over statutory exemptions from duties and taxes;

● authorise and control simplified customs systems and procedures in accordance with Community customs legislation, in particular the Community Customs Code and its implementing provisions;

● Actively participate in the island’s role as a transit point in the region;

● cooperative “agency work” on behalf of other ministries and departments or independent services, for example in certain aspects of import and export licensing and exchange controls;

● Collection and analysis of income and trade statistics;

● Cooperation with other customs authorities and other national and international agencies and organizations;

● Cooperate and liaise with the UK Sovereign Base established on the island of Cyprus regarding cargo unloaded from these areas.

The Customs Department is based in Nicosia. The headquarters is responsible for policy formulation and the management of the technical operations of the Ministry. There are 3 regional customs offices, called Collections, in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca. Paphos Customs is a subsidiary unit of Limassol Customs. The Ministry has a total of about 400 staff in permanent positions.