United States Customs Service

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The United States Customs Service (now part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection or "CBP") was the portion of the U.S. Federal Government dedicated to keeping illegal products outside of U.S. borders. It also regulated what could leave the United States and was partially responsible for who could enter the United States.

Operations were divided into two separate sections - the first of which was the Office of Field Operations (OFO) which handled duties and tax penalties along with helping to prevent contraband from entering the United States. It was primarily made up of Inspectors that served as the "front-line" of Customs by monitoring and policing all international ports of entry into the United States, (land, sea or air); by screening incoming and outgoing international shipments of cargo; as well as inspecting informal entries of dutiable goods by individuals through personal transport or shipment through international postal carriers (government and private). Inspectors also handled operations regarding smuggling of contraband into the United States and control the exportation of controlled or strategic resources from the United States. Other OFO personnel included Import Specialists, Intelligence Officers, and other contracted personnel responsible for record keeping, handling protest and tax penalty arbitration along with other record support functions.

Import Specialists provided the backbone of OFO by providing expertise concerning proper classification of goods for the purpose of charging duties. The primary resource for determining duty classifications is the two volume Harmonized Tariff Schedule for the United States or HTSUS, which is updated annually. Import Specialists were divided into Commodity Teams (CTs) which are assigned specific types of goods to specialize in. For example: one team may be assigned vehicles, vehicle components and ball bearings and another may be assigned clothing, textiles and toys. Each CT is assigned a more senior Import Specialist whose job it is to train Import Specialists that are new to a particular Commodity Team. These individuals are usually defacto experts in the analysis of goods that they are assigned and are often called upon to physically inspect goods entering (or petitioning to enter) the United States. They are primarily enagaged in activities concerning Formal Entries which are handled by Customs Brokerage Houses, but they also provide assistance in Informal Entries.

The other half of the United States Customs and Border Protection Service was the Office of Investigation or "OI." The Office of Investigation consisted of specialized sections of Special Agents that are divided by common crimes regarding international affairs. Primary sections included Financial Crimes, Narcotics, Strategic, and Computer Forensics. The Office of Investigation also included an Internal Affairs section that monitored and investigated allegations of misconduct and criminal activity within both the Office of Investigation and the Office of Field Operations. As part of the reorganization associated with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Investigation was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 1, 2003.

1 Commissioners
2 History of the United States Customs Service
3 Examples of illegal items
4 External links

[edit] Commissioners

This table lists all Commissioners of Customs, their dates of service, and under which administration they served.

Commissioner	Term	Administration
Ernest W. Camp	1927–1929	Coolidge
Francis Xavier A. Eble	1929–1933	Hoover
James Henry Moyle	1933–1939	Roosevelt
Basil Harris	1939-1940	Roosevelt
William Roy Johnson	1940-1947	Roosevelt, Truman
Frank Dow	Acting, 1947-1949	Truman
Frank Dow	1949-1953	Truman
Ralph Kelly	1954-1961	Eisenhower
Philip Nichols, Jr.	1961-1964	Kennedy, Johnson
Lester D. Johnson	1965–1969	Johnson
Myles Joseph Ambrose	1969–1972	Nixon
Vernon Darrell Acree	1972–1977	Nixon, Ford
Robert E. Chasen	1977–1980	Carter
William Von Raab	1981–1989	Reagan
Carol B. Hallett	1989–1993	G.H.W.Bush
George J. Weise	1993–1997	Clinton
Raymond W. Kelly	1998–2001	Clinton
Robert C. Bonner	2001–2005	G.W.Bush
W. Ralph Basham	2006–	G.W.Bush

The U.S. Customs Service ceased to exist on March 1, 2003 when it was split and integrated into US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two new agencies. From 2003-2006 Robert C. Bonner was commissioner of the newly formed CBP.

[edit] History of the United States Customs Service

Responding to the urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War, the First Congress passed and President George Washington signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. Four weeks later, on July 31, the fifth act of Congress established the United States Customs Service and its ports of entry.

For over 100 years after its birth, the U.S. Customs Service was the primary source of funds for the entire government, and paid for the nation's early growth and infrastructure. Purchases include the Louisiana and Oregon territories; Florida and Alaska; funding the National Road and the Transcontinental Railroad; builing many of the nation's lighthouses; the U.S. Military and Naval academies, and Washington D.C.

With the passage of the Homeland Security Act, the U.S. Customs Service passed from under jurisdiction of the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security.

On March 1, 2003, part of the U.S. Customs Service, along with the Inspections Program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol of the Immigration and Naturalization Service combined to form U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Federal Air Marshals, along with the investigative arms from both the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service combined to form U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

[edit] Examples of illegal items

All Cuban products without a specific license for their importation, such as Cuban Cigars.
Illicit Drugs
Unscreened Fruits and Meats
Excessive quantities of textiles
Undeclared liquor over allowable limits
Tobacco products over allowable limits
Undeclared monies or monetary instruments over $10,000