100TH ANNIVERSARY OF CUSTOMS…

Remzi AKÇIN
UGM Chairman of the Board of Directors 

The structuring of the customs organization in today's sense begins with the institution of Rüsumat Emaneti, established in 1861. In 1931, the Ministry of Customs and Excise was established. The name of the Ministry of Customs and Excise was changed to "Ministry of Customs and Monopoly" in 1945. In 1983, the Ministry of Finance and Customs was established. In 1993, Customs was separated from the Ministry of Finance and attached to the Prime Ministry under the "Undersecretariat of Customs." In 2011, the Ministry of Customs and Trade was established. In 2018, the Ministry of Customs and Trade and the Ministry of Economy were abolished, and their functions were brought under the Ministry of Trade. Thus, for the first time since 1931, the customs administration is incorporated into a ministry without the term "customs" in its name. 

From 1923, when the Republic was founded, to 2022, exports increased 5,004 times from $50.79 million to $254,170.94 million, while imports increased 4,187 times from $86.87 million to $363,710.11 million. In this period, foreign trade volume increased 4,488 times. This statistic alone shows the importance of the customs administration in the last 100 years.

As long as states have existed, taxes have been levied and customs duties have been collected whenever foreign goods were sold or passed through the territory of the country. Based on this information, it is said that "one of the oldest professions on earth was customs clearance." The evidence for this is that both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John mention customs tax collectors. I want to begin by quoting the texts of both Gospels for the readers' consideration.

Luke 18: 9-14 / Pharisee and Tax Collector

Jesus told this parable to some people who were confident in their righteousness and looked down on others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed to himself, 'Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, extortioners, fornicators, adulterers - or like this tax collector. I fast two days a week and tithe all my earnings.'

And the tax collector stood far away, not even wanting to raise his eyes to heaven, but beating his chest, saying, 'Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man, not the Pharisee, went home justified. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles will be exalted."

Matthew 17: 24-27

When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax of two dirhams came to Peter and said to him, "Your teacher pays the temple tax, doesn't he?"

Petrus said, "He does."

When Petrus came home, before he could say anything, Petrus said to him, "Simun, what do you say? "From whom do the kings of the world collect customs or taxes? From their sons or foreigners?"

When Petrus said, "Foreigners," Jesus said, "Then the sons are exempt. 

"But let us not offend the tax collectors. Go to the lake and cast your line. Take the first fish you catch, open its mouth, and you will find a four-dirham coin. Take the money and give it to them as tax for both of us."

The history of Turkish customs begins after the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye. It should be noted that the Turkish states that ruled the Silk Road for centuries also had customs organizations. However, we aim to present a 100-year section of this chronology based on the Republican Era to the readers periodically. 

1909-1931 MINISTRY OF FINANCE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF RÜSUMAT 

At the dawn of modern customs organizations, a pivotal shift occurred with the establishment of Rüsumat Emaneti. In 1859, the Provincial Customs Administrations were integrated into the Istanbul Commodity Customs Office, which was later renamed as "Rüsumat Depository " in 1861. This institution played a crucial role until its abolition on July 12, 1909. The customs and its affiliated institutions were then restructured under the umbrella of the "Rüsumat Müdiriyeti Umumiyesi" (General Directorate of Customs), a change that marked a significant milestone in the evolution of customs administration in Türkiye. This new structure, which was maintained even after the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye, continued its operations until 1931.

The decision justified the subordination of the customs administration to the Ministry of Finance by stating that customs was an institution that collected state revenues and that such institutions were affiliated with the Ministry of Finance in many European countries.

The execution of customs under a single budget and under the same roof within the Ministry of Finance led to some difficulties, particularly transaction delays. In order to prevent this, customs were affiliated with the Ministry of Finance with an independent budget and an independent system with the regulation dated 1909.

Customs legislation was also applied to customs during the Second Constitutional Monarchy Period, and it was also used during the Republican Period. The 1916 Customs Tariff was applied at customs until the Customs Tariff Law No. 1499 was enacted in 1929. Likewise, a modern customs law was prepared by analyzing the customs laws of Western countries, and this law was put into force in 1918. Moreover, the Customs Law dated April 11, 1918, was applied with some amendments until Customs Law No. 5383 was put into force in 1949.

When the Republic of Türkiye was founded, the customs administration had the organizational structure of the 1914 Rüsumat Salnamesi, in which both central and provincial customs organizations were structured. According to the Salnamesi, the central organization consisted of the Directorate General of Rüsumat, the Inspectors' Department, the General Correspondence Department, the Civil Servants and Quartermaster Department, the General Warfare Department, the Legal Counsel's Office, the Assay Office, the Printing Office, the Department Directorate, the Enforcement Directorate, the Transfer Office, the Steamship Crew for the Protection of the Ottoman Coast and its sub-units. The provincial organization consisted of Istanbul, Galata, Maa Mülhakat Haydarpaşa, Izmir, Beirut, Iskenderun, Baghdad, Jeddah, Yemen, Trabzon, Maa Mülhakat Edirne customs chief directorates and their connections.

Provincial customs administrations were authorized in three classes. First-class customs administrations were permitted to carry out customs procedures for all kinds of goods without exceptions. Second-class customs administrations are licensed to carry out customs clearance of all goods, except those requiring analysis in customs chemistries; third-class customs administrations are authorized to carry out clearance of only goods brought by passengers and all kinds of domestic trade and export goods. This classification of authority is still valid.

1931-1945 VICE MINISTRY OF CUSTOMS AND SANITARY AFFAIRS

In the first nine years of the Republic, a commission was established by the Decree of the Council of Ministers to prepare the new Customs Tariff and the "Customs Tariff Law" dated 1/6/1929 and numbered 1499, which was prepared based on the specific system as a result of the work of the commission, entered into force on October 1, 1929. Due to this Law, smuggling incidents increased with increased customs duties, reaching excellent dimensions, especially on our southern borders. To effectively combat smuggling, a semi-military Customs Enforcement General Command was established on our southern borders with Law No. 1841, dated 27/7/1931. 

During this period, a pivotal moment in the history of customs and excise departments occurred. The establishment of the "Ministry of Customs and Excise" was a significant change in the administrative structure of the customs organization. With Law No. 1909 dated 29/12/1931, the Ministry of Customs and Excise was founded to handle the affairs of Customs and State Excise, excluding post, telegraph, and telephone. By Law No. 1989, the Monopoly Administration and Enterprises, which were then under the Ministry of Finance, were incorporated into the newly established Ministry of Customs and Excise. This merger and restructuring under a single Ministry marked a crucial turning point in the history of customs and excise departments. 

The organizational structure and duties of the Ministry of Customs and Excise were regulated by the "Law on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Customs and Excise" numbered 2825. The Law regulated the duties of the General Directorate of Customs as "to ensure the good implementation of customs and tariff laws and other laws, regulations, treaties, and agreements related to customs, to regulate and monitor the activities of customs in this regard, to take measures to ensure the efficient and advanced work of customs branches and services, to examine the law projects that affect customs affairs and revenues and to report its opinion." The General Directorate of Customs was composed of "Tariff," "Customs Affairs," "Economic Affairs," "Investigation" and "Publication Affairs" Branch Directorates.

Furthermore, the 'Regulation on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Customs and Excise' dated August 10, 1940 and numbered 14153 brought about significant changes in the Ministry's structure. Under this regulation, the Ministry of Customs and Excise was restructured with 9 service units at the center. This detailed account of the Ministry's evolution provides a comprehensive view of its development during the specified period.

Since the Customs Law, which was put into effect in 1918 before the Republican Period, was insufficient in the face of the changing economic conditions of the day, the first Customs Law of the Republican Period, Law No. 5383, entered into force on 11/11/1949. This Law was the first customs law published separately from tariff laws.

1945-1983 MINISTRY OF CUSTOMS AND MONOPOLY 

1945 was an important year in terms of language studies. During this period, when old words were replaced with their new equivalents and a new administrative language was created, the names of ministries were also Turkishized. In this framework, the name of the "Ministry of Customs and Excise" was changed to "Ministry of Customs and Monopoly."

With this regulation, only the name of the Ministry, established by Law No. 1909 dated 29/12/1931 and whose organizational structure and duties were regulated by Law No. 2825 dated 9/10/1935, was changed; its duties, powers, and organizational structure remained the same. 

During this period, Turkey closely followed international developments and joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (today's World Trade Organization), which was established in Geneva in 1947 and became operational in 1948, and also became one of the first members of the Customs Cooperation Council (today's World Customs Organization), which was established in Brussels in 1950.

To facilitate international trade and, therefore, uniformize customs practices among countries, the Customs Cooperation Council became a party to the Nomenclature and Value Conventions prepared by the Customs Cooperation Council with Law No. 6449 dated 7/1/1955. With the amendments made to Customs Law No. 5383 in force, the specific tariff procedure was abandoned. The new vocabulary based on the value system started to be applied. 

While these works on Customs Legislation and technique were in progress, the General Command of Customs Enforcement was abolished by Law No. 6815 dated 16/7/1956, and "the duty of protection and security of our borders, coasts and territorial waters and the duty of prevention, pursuit and investigation of smuggling in the customs area" was transferred to the Ministry of Interior; however, the duty of customs protection and the duty of prevention, pursuit and investigation of smuggling in customs gates, air and sea ports with customs organization, Marmara Sea, Dardanelles and Istanbul Straits and customs areas in these places were assigned to the Ministry of Customs and Monopolies. 

Within this framework, the structure of the Ministry's central and provincial organization was reorganized with the amendment made by Law No. 6851 to Law No. 2825 on the "Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Customs and Excise," and the Customs Enforcement General Command was replaced by the Directorate of Customs Enforcement at the headquarters. Established in 1972 as a state economic enterprise, the General Directorate of Tea Enterprises was affiliated with the Ministry of Customs and Monopoly as a related organization. 

Enacted on July 19, 1972, with the number l615, it was passed on February 1, 1973. In accordance with the January 24, 1980 Decisions and the new economic model put into practice, amendments were made to Customs Law No. 1615 by Laws No. 2419 dated 25/2/1981 and No. 2817 dated 18/4/1983 to adapt the Customs Law to the economic conditions of the day.

1983-1993 MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND CUSTOMS 

The Ministry of Finance and Customs was established on 13/12/1983 with the “Decree Law on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Finance and Customs” No. 178 based on the authority granted by Law No. 2680 dated 17/6/1982.

General Directorate of Tekel and General Directorate of Tea Institution, which were transformed into SEEs, became subsidiaries of the Ministry within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance and Customs. The General Directorate of Liquidation, which had been structured as a general directorate under the Ministry of Customs and Monopolies, was first organized as the Liquidation Department at the headquarters and then transformed into the General Directorate of Liquidation Affairs Revolving Fund Enterprises by the Law dated 16/5/1984 and numbered 3007. 

During this period, the provincial organization of the General Directorate of Customs was reorganized at the level of “Chief Directorate,” “Directorate,” “Chief Officer,” and “Administrative Officer,” with the amendment of the Customs Regulation dated January 15, 1989.

1993-2011 PRIME MINISTRY UNDERSECRETARIAT OF CUSTOMS 

During its historical development, the Customs Organization was merged with the Ministry of Finance in 1983 and was again attached to the Ministry of Finance, and this structure continued until 1993. With the “Decree Law on the Organization and Duties of the Undersecretariat of Customs” dated 2/7/1993 and numbered 485, customs was again separated from the Ministry of Finance and structured as a separate secretariat under the Prime Ministry under the name of “Undersecretariat of Customs.”

Approximately three years after the establishment of the Undersecretariat of Customs, with the Decision of the 36th Association Council of Turkey-European Community dated 6/3/1995, the establishment of a “Customs Union” between the European Union and the Republic of Turkey was envisaged to start on 1/1/1996. In this framework, due to the need for specialization within the Undersecretariat and the need for foreign language-speaking personnel for the transposition of the European Union (EU) Legislation into our domestic legislation by the Customs Union, customs specialists started to work under the General Directorate of Customs for the first time in 1996.

On the other hand, Customs Law No. 4458, which was prepared in compliance with the EU Legislation and entered into force on 5/2/2000, introduced new customs regimes and new institutions; the names of the old regimes were changed; as the concept of customs gradually changed, customs administrations started to be assigned responsibilities in new areas such as the environment, human health and public security in addition to tax collection; the introduction of customs automation and the BİLGE system, the continuous updating of the system and the computerization of the instructions of the center to the provinces necessitated radical changes in the structure of the customs organization. The central organization switched to a department-based organization.

With the Decree of the Council of Ministers dated 22/7/2003 and numbered 2003/5932, the chief directorates of customs and customs custody were abolished (merged) and established.

The Modernization of Customs Administration Project was launched in 1998. Its main results were:

• The harmonization of Customs Legislation and procedures with EU Customs Legislation.
• The restructuring of customs administrations.
• Establishing and implementing the Bilge System.

Another important project during this period was the Modernization of Customs Laboratories Project. The work volumes of 23 customs laboratories, their physical structures according to commodity groups, and the number of personnel and technical equipment were evaluated, and the number of laboratories was reduced to 6 in 2006.

With Law No. 5622 dated 5/4/2007, the General Directorate of Liquidation Affairs Revolving Fund Enterprises under the Ministry of Finance was affiliated with the Undersecretariat of Customs.

2011-2018 MINISTRY OF CUSTOMS AND TRADE 

Based on the “Law No. 6223 dated 6/4/2011 on the Authorization Law on the Organization, Duties, and Authorities of Public Institutions and Organizations and Matters Relating to Public Officials to Ensure the Orderly, Effective and Efficient Provision of Public Services”, ministries of state were abolished and 21 executive ministries were created. The “Ministry of Customs and Trade” was established by merging the abolished Undersecretariat of Customs and four General Directorates of the abolished Ministry of Industry and Trade related to domestic trade with the “Decree Law on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Customs and Trade” dated 3/6/2011 and numbered 640.

In this context, fundamental changes were made in the central organization of the customs administration.

Parallel to the central organization, the provincial organization was also restructured. With the Council of Ministers Decree No. 2011/2474, the provincial organization was organized as 16 Regional Directorates of Customs and Trade, 147 Customs Directorates, 29 Customs Enforcement Smuggling and Intelligence Directorates, 23 Liquidation Management Directorates, 6 Laboratory Directorates, and 16 Personnel Directorates. 

Also during this period, Law No. 6111, dated 13/2/2011, introduced the Reconciliation Procedure for customs receivables. As of 1/1/2012, implementing the “New Computerized Transit System” (NCTS) was started at the national level. 

2018 MINISTRY OF TRADE 

Presidential Decree No. 1 on the Presidential Organization, dated July 10, 2018, abolished the Prime Ministry and the Council of Ministers, and the Presidential Government System was introduced. The Ministry of Customs and Trade and the Ministry of Economy were abolished in this restructuring. The Ministry of Trade was established, and for the first time since 1931, the customs administration was structured under a ministry without the term "customs" in its name. The organizational structure of the Ministry of Trade was amended by Decrees No. 27, 70, 79, and 89, and the current situation shows that there are only two general directorates within the 16 general directorates whose primary duty is customs operations.

TRANSACTION VOLUME OF THE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION 

The main job of the customs administration is to perform import and export transactions. Naturally, import and export statistics are the most basic indicator of the customs administration's workload. Foreign trade statistics in the 100 years of the Republic should be evaluated before and after the January 24, 1980, decisions when the import substitution growth strategy was abandoned and the open growth strategy was adopted.

In the 57 years between 1923 and 1979 before the January 24, 1980 decisions, exports increased 44.52 times from $50.79 million to $2,261.19; imports increased 58.35 times from $86.87 million to $5,069.43 million. In this period, foreign trade volume increased 53.25 times. 

In the 42 years between 1980 and 2022, since the January 24, 1980 decisions, exports increased 78.34 times from $2,910.12 million to $254,170.94, while imports increased 45.98 times from $7,909.36 million to $363,710.11 million. In this period, foreign trade volume increased 57.10 times. The impact of the January 24th Decisions and the Customs Union on the increase in foreign trade volume can be seen in the graph.

From 1923, when the Republic was founded, to 2022, exports increased 5,004 times, from $50.79 million to $254,170.94 million, while imports increased 4,187 times, from $86.87 million to $363,710.11 million. In this period, foreign trade volume increased 4,488 times. This statistic alone shows the importance of the customs administration in the last 100 years.