What is customs and what function does it perform? Customs business: where to learn a specialty

16.10.2019

Customs services guard the interests of their country around the clock. It is impossible to imagine how many faces, cars, containers pass before their eyes during days, weeks, months of work. And, nevertheless, there are many who want to become a customs officer.

How to enter the profession?

You can acquire a specialty after 9 grades high school, and entered a higher educational institution in Russia. Preparation should begin at school and focus on subjects such as the Russian language, mathematics and social studies. The presence of humanities and exact sciences is associated with the interdisciplinarity of the specialty.

Competition in universities for the specialty “customs affairs” is quite high: on average, 5 applicants apply for one budget place. You can also study part-time, having previously found out how much it costs (≈ 60,000 rubles per year). After graduating from university, you can continue your education in graduate school. The most shortcut there will be admission to the Customs Academy of Russia, opened in 1993 in Moscow (there are branches in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Rostov-on-Don).

Requirements for specialists

There are a number of specific requirements for people who want to work at customs. When applying for a job, all candidates must obtain a report from a military medical commission and undergo an interview with a psychologist. In addition, future customs officers must have knowledge of customs law, the basics of commodity science, economics, criminology, ethics, know the customs code and the requirements of sanitary and veterinary control.

The greatest chances of becoming an employee of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) are candidates with financial, economic and legal education. If you do not have such a diploma, you will have to undergo training at the customs office within 3 months. training center. Today, the post of a Federal Customs Service employee can be located at an airport, in a sea or river port, at a border checkpoint or at railway station.

Salary of customs specialists

The remuneration of a customs officer includes salary according to position, salary according to rank, allowances and payments.

How much FCS employees receive in the form of bonuses depends on the region of service, however, these people are additionally paid for the following merits and achievements:

special conditions of civil service;
working with confidential information;
quality of service;
class rank;
academic titles;
special achievements;
service in remote and hard-to-reach places in Russia.

In addition, regardless of the place of work (at the border, at the airport, etc.), customs officers receive food rations or monetary compensation. For overtime work Customs specialists earn additional days of rest. Annual financial assistance is at least 2 months' salary. Additional tangible income can come from additional payments for length of service (as in the army). How much exactly this is depends on the number of years worked (for 20 years or more - plus 40% of the salary).

Currently in Moscow, FCS specialists earn about 45 thousand rubles. In the regions, salaries are slightly lower - up to 35 thousand rubles. In 2015, the Russian government plans to increase wages by 25% for people working at customs, which will amount to 52 thousand rubles or more.

Becoming a customs officer is an honor and responsibility. There are some differences in how much they earn at a railway station, at the airport or at the border, related to working conditions, work schedule, region, and responsibility. However, the amount of their salary is quite sufficient for the desire to become an employee of the Federal Customs Service to turn from a dream into reality.

Customs officer is a very popular profession. Of course, not everyone is able to serve valiantly in the ranks of the Federal Customs Service. This means that working in customs is a path for the elite.

Demand

Payability

Competition

Entry barrier

Prospects

“I don’t take bribes, I feel bad for the state” - this phrase from the movie “White Sun of the Desert” determined once and for all what a standard customs officer should be. Some experts believe that if the majority of officials adhered to such views, life around the world would become much better.

Story

Customs - government agency, the main function of which is to control the movement of goods, vehicles and, in general, any objects, as well as animals and people; collection of customs duties, customs clearance and application of customs procedures. The word “customs” itself has Turkic roots; it comes from the word “tamga”, which was used by nomadic peoples in Central Asia denoted a mark placed on objects as a sign of ownership.

With the development of society, the emergence of established centralized states, there was a need to control the flow of goods, record them and tax them to replenish the treasury. The time when the rudiments of customs began to appear in Rus', historians call the 9th century AD. It was then that a number of different duties were introduced, among which was a trade tax called “myto”. Those who collected myt were called “mytniks”. By the way, today, the word “customs officer” from Russian into Ukrainian is literally translated as “mitnik” (pronounced “mytnyk”).

Description, duties of a customs officer

A customs civil service employee is not a very difficult profession and does not require outstanding intellectual abilities from a person. Customs officers rarely have to physically work and get dirty. Perhaps because there is not much physical activity, customs officers often have problems with excess weight.

It is not without reason that many people strive to get into the customs service. And the point is not at all that everyone wants to fight smuggling so much. Alas, the profession of a customs officer is an excellent option for corrupt officials, bribe takers, and careerists. Unfortunately, we live in an age of cynicism and nihilism. In our society, such words as “honesty”, “justice”, “philanthropy”, as well as the phrases “loyalty to the oath” and “honor of the uniform” are usually interpreted freely, in their own way and, as a result, to replace concepts, distort values, distort meaning.

To understand what the ideal customs officer looks like through the eyes of a nosy, resourceful and mercantile laughing crowd, just watch the show “Our Russia”, in which an honest traffic cop is depicted as a beggar, a hungry idiot. Probably, stories about an honest customs officer would look the same.

Main responsibilities:

Investigation of cases of violation of customs law.
Preparation of documentation.
Work at the checkpoint.
Inspection of cargo and personal belongings of citizens at the train station, airport or customs.
Accounting for confiscated goods.
Detection of goods prohibited for export or import.
Detection and accounting of contraband.
Prevention and suppression of offenses in the field of customs law.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The demand for young specialists is quite high, which is undoubtedly a plus. Most university graduates who have mastered this profession can find employment in the future without any problems. Moreover, there are a number of benefits for customs officers, they receive “accelerated” experience and retire early. By the way, customs officers’ pensions are more than decent, plus substantial increases. Customs officers working at checkpoints dealing with smuggling are treated like military personnel and can count on military benefits, allowances and social bonuses.

The specificity of the position leaves its mark: a customs officer, in the process of work, acquires such useful life skills as observation, communication, knowledge of the psychology of people in general, as well as customs officers and criminals in particular. Plus, if a person working as a customs officer pulls himself together and refuses to participate in corruption schemes, he can develop a remarkable will in himself, which, being retired, can be directed in a good direction.

The main disadvantage of this profession is the constant pressure from people who want to circumvent the law in one way or another. Usually this pressure is transformed into specific amounts and (in rare cases) into threats. As for money, it is extremely difficult to resist temptation and few can do it. Being under constant stress, customs officers often fall into depression and binge drinking. However, no matter how sad they may be, the statistics are cruel: no more than 3% of customs service employees can be called “clean.”

Salary and education

In Moscow, FCS specialists receive, on average, 45 rubles. In other regions, salaries are lower - up to 35,000. Beginning specialists can count on 25,000. In the “large link” of the Federal Customs Service, the salary ranges from 75,000 to 160,000 rubles. In 2015, salaries for all customs officers are planned to be increased by 25%.

There are a lot of universities in the Russian Federation. There are also many places where you can learn the profession of a customs officer. Competition, on average - 5 people per place. Basically, you need to pass three exams in humanities subjects. Usually this is “Russian language”, “ foreign language" and "social studies". Here are the most famous universities that train young customs officers:

IPEB (Moscow), 120,000 rubles per year.
RUDN University (Moscow), Faculty of Economics. 195,000 rubles per year.
RTA (Lyubertsy), Faculty of Customs, 160,000 rubles.
RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation (Moscow), Law Faculty named after. M. M. Speransky. The cost of training is 180,000 rubles per year.

If you still have even the slightest doubt that the profession of “Customs Officer” is your calling, do not rush. After all, you can spend your whole life regretting the years you lost studying and working in a specialty that simply doesn’t suit you. To find a profession in which you can maximize your talents, go through online career aptitude test or order consultation "Career vector" .

Do you remember the wonderful film “White Sun of the Desert” and its hero, customs officer Vereshchagin? There was no longer either a border or a country whose interests he stood guard over, and Vereshchagin still guarded his customs. “I don’t take bribes. I feel bad for the state!” – catchphrase this handsome strongman with principles and sovereign thinking has become the personification of the portrait of a real customs officer.

Remember the wonderful film “White Sun of the Desert” and its hero customs officer Vereshchagin in the magnificent performance of Pavel Luspekayev? There was no longer a border or a country whose interests he stood guard over, and Vereshchagin still guarded his customs, looking with disgust at the watermelons and black caviar that his wife fed him day after day. “I don’t take bribes. I feel bad for the state!” – the catchphrase of this handsome strongman with principles and sovereign thinking has become the personification of the portrait of a real customs officer.

This is exactly how principled and conscientious a person should be who guards state interests. Should be - this is the key phrase, since the portrait of a modern customs officer is very different from the “film” one. And it's not that modern world There are no Vereshchagins left, but the fact is that many young people choose the profession of a customs officer thoughtlessly. They are seduced by the supposed benefits, forgetting about the significance and features of this profession. Therefore, today we will try to talk about all the nuances, disadvantages and advantages of the customs officer profession, and we hope that this will help you consciously approach the choice of your future job.

Who is a customs officer?

Customs officer - an employee of the state customs service who monitors the movement of people, things, vehicles, goods and other items through customs border, as well as carrying out customs clearance and collection of customs duties.

The name of the profession comes from the Old Russian word tamga (seal, tax, duty), which in turn has Turkic roots. Note that in Ancient Rus' the customs house was called mytney (from the word myt - the name of the payment collected by local princes). Story customs officer profession originates in ancient times, when the first foreign economic relations between states arose. It was then that the need arose to control goods and people crossing borders. This is what the very first customs officers did, and their activities have remained virtually unchanged since that time.

Today, as before, the job of a customs officer is to clear goods transported across the state border. The professional responsibilities of this specialist include:

registration of documentation for cargo;
cargo inspection at customs, screening of citizens at the airport or train station;
detection of contraband and goods prohibited for import or export;
work at checkpoints;
accounting of confiscated goods;
investigation of offenses in the field of customs law.

More specifically, the customs officer must check the documentation for the goods and draw up his own declarations, determine the country of import and export of the goods and determine the amount of duties and their quantity, allow the cargo and citizens to cross the border. By the way, the range of duties of customs officers is so wide that within the profession there are several narrow specializations that depend on the specialist’s place of work: checkpoint worker, passport control worker, international customs department employees, etc. Therefore, when crossing the border, citizens, as a rule, have to deal with the most different representatives this profession. It does not matter where exactly this border passes: at the airport, at the railway station or in the sea harbour.

What personal qualities should a customs officer have?

Customs officer's work is associated with certain risks and temptations that impose a number of requirements on representatives of this profession. First, they must be different high degree patriotism, integrity and honesty. In addition, any customs officer must have such personal qualities, How:

I would also like to say something about intuition. It is visually very difficult to determine whether a person or vehicle is carrying prohibited cargo or not. But experienced customs officers do this according to some signs that only they understand, “pulling the thread,” gradually unwinding the ball. In doing so, they rely not so much on knowledge of psychology and practical skills, but on their own intuition.

Also, the customs officer is required to have impeccable knowledge of laws, legal and legal subtleties, rules for maintaining documentation and possession formal business style speech. Economic knowledge is also necessary for a customs officer, especially those related to trade turnover.

Advantages of being a customs officer

Ask any customs officer: what are the advantages of his profession. And you will definitely hear in response: of great importance for society. After all, it is customs officials who guard the country’s national security, preventing the import of contraband and preventing the free movement of terrorists.

Undoubtedly advantage of being a customs officer can also be called demand. As customs continues to expand as a result of increased trade volumes and the number of people crossing the border, young professionals will find it easy to find employment.

Customs officers have the right to benefits, for example, early retirement and a substantial increase in it. Customs officers involved in checkpoints, searching for contraband and prohibited goods are treated like military personnel and, accordingly, can count on the same benefits.

Thanks to the specifics of the job, a customs officer develops very well his powers of observation, analytical skills, intuition, memory and attentiveness. These qualities, without any doubt, are useful not only when performing professional responsibilities, but also in everyday life. And the skills and knowledge in the field of jurisprudence and foreign economic activity will allow a former customs officer to easily obtain a leadership position in a commercial enterprise.

Disadvantages of the customs officer profession

The most important disadvantage of the customs officer profession– this is constant pressure from people who want to circumvent customs rules, avoid paying duties or import prohibited goods. We can say that almost every customs officer has the risk of encountering them. Not everyone can resist temptation, resist, and remain an honest employee under the pressure of this kind of temptation.

This leads to the next disadvantage of this profession - high staff turnover. According to statistics, in our country customs is one of the most corrupt systems, and only 2-3% of customs officers can be called crystal clear. Well, since our state is actively fighting corruption and regularly introducing more and more anti-corruption measures, the ranks of customs service employees are often “cleansed”.

The disadvantages of this profession are also associated with the psychological stress that exists in the work. The constant need to be fully prepared, to strain attention and memory can lead to nervous breakdowns, stress and prolonged depression.

Where can you become a customs officer?

To become a customs officer It is not at all necessary to have a specialized education. However, since this profession requires a large amount of diverse knowledge, having a higher education is generally prerequisite. Knowledge and skills in the field of customs can be obtained through special courses.

But still, we recommend obtaining this profession at specialized universities, since in this environment, graduates of customs academies are valued most of all. In addition, only highly qualified customs officers can count on fast career growth, especially if the education in the specialty “Customs Affairs” was received in such best universities Russia, How.

Do you remember the wonderful film “White Sun of the Desert” and its hero, customs officer Vereshchagin? There was no longer either a border or a country whose interests he stood guard over, and Vereshchagin still guarded his customs. “I don’t take bribes. I feel bad for the state!” – the catchphrase of this handsome strongman with principles and sovereign thinking has become the personification of the portrait of a real customs officer.

This is exactly how principled and conscientious a person should be who guards state interests. Should be - this is the key phrase, since the portrait of a modern customs officer is very different from the “film” one. And the point is not that there are no Vereshchagins left in the modern world, but that many young people choose the profession of a customs officer thoughtlessly. They are seduced by the supposed benefits, forgetting about the significance and features of this profession. Therefore, today we will try to talk about all the nuances, disadvantages and advantages of the customs officer profession, and we hope that this will help you consciously approach the choice of your future job.

Who is a customs officer?

Customs officer is an employee of the state customs service who monitors the movement of people, things, vehicles, goods and other items across the customs border, as well as carries out customs clearance and collection of customs duties.

The name of the profession comes from the Old Russian word tamga (seal, tax, duty), which in turn has Turkic roots. Note that in Ancient Rus' customs was called mytney (from the word myt - the name of the payment collected by local princes). Story customs officer profession originates in ancient times, when the first foreign economic relations between states arose. It was then that the need arose to control goods and people crossing borders. This is what the very first customs officers did, and their activities have remained virtually unchanged since that time.

Today, as before, the job of a customs officer is to clear goods transported across the state border. The professional responsibilities of this specialist include:

registration of documentation for cargo;
cargo inspection at customs, screening of citizens at the airport or train station;
detection of contraband and goods prohibited for import or export;
work at checkpoints;
accounting of confiscated goods;
investigation of offenses in the field of customs law.

More specifically, the customs officer must check the documentation for the goods and draw up his own declarations, determine the country of import and export of the goods and determine the amount of duties and their quantity, allow the cargo and citizens to cross the border. By the way, the range of duties of customs officers is so wide that within the profession there are several narrow specializations that depend on the specialist’s place of work: checkpoint worker, passport control worker, international customs department employees, etc. Therefore, when crossing the border, citizens, as a rule, have to deal with a variety of representatives of this profession. It does not matter where exactly this border passes: at the airport, at the railway station or in the sea harbour.

What personal qualities should a customs officer have?

Customs officer's work is associated with certain risks and temptations that impose a number of requirements on representatives of this profession. Firstly, they must be distinguished by a high degree of patriotism, integrity and honesty. In addition, any customs officer must have such personal qualities as:

Also, the customs officer is required to have impeccable knowledge of the laws, legal and legal subtleties, rules for maintaining documentation and proficiency in an official business style of speech. Economic knowledge is also necessary for a customs officer, especially those related to trade turnover.

Advantages of being a customs officer

Thanks to the specifics of the job, a customs officer develops very well his powers of observation, analytical skills, intuition, memory and attentiveness. These qualities, without any doubt, are useful not only when performing professional duties, but also in everyday life. And the skills and knowledge in the field of jurisprudence and foreign economic activity acquired while working at customs will allow a former customs officer to easily obtain a leadership position in a commercial enterprise.

Disadvantages of the customs officer profession

Where can you become a customs officer?

To become a customs officer It is not at all necessary to have a specialized education. However, since this profession requires a large amount of diverse knowledge, having a higher education is generally a prerequisite. Knowledge and skills in the field of customs can be obtained through special courses.

But still, we recommend obtaining this profession at specialized universities, since in this environment, graduates of customs academies are valued most of all. In addition, only highly qualified customs officers can count on rapid career growth, especially if their education in the specialty “Customs Affairs” was received in such best universities in Russia, How.

Specialty 38.05 02 customs is in great demand in at the moment. During training, future specialists gain skills in conducting customs control, can independently determine the cost of goods and the country of origin, and also study the process of collecting and returning customs duties. The future specialist must be able to identify and suppress various administrative offenses and crimes, manage customs authorities (introduce planning, analysis and control of activities), use information systems and technologies, as well as means to protect information from third parties, to achieve the above goals.

A qualified customs officer can independently analyze and conduct customs statistics for foreign trade.

Customs specialties in universities

What specializations in customs affairs are offered at universities?

Universities with a specialty in customs offer students to obtain a diploma higher education for further targeted training of specialists for work at customs and in customs authorities. Some universities offer specialties:

customs management (ITMO University, St. Petersburg),
specialty customs payments and currency control (Volga Region Institute of Management named after P.A. Stolypin of the Russian Academy of National Economy and civil service under the President of the Russian Federation, Saratov, Moscow University named after S.Yu. Witte),
specialty organization of customs control (Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law),
customs payments and currency regulation (Moscow state university communication routes).

Specialty customs affairs - universities

St. Petersburg State Economic University
St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation
Baikal State University
East Siberian Institute of Economics and Law
Irkutsk State Transport University
Southern University, Rostov-on-Don
Rostov State Economic University (RINH)
Vyatka State University, Kirov
Tolyatti State University

Specialty customs affairs - Moscow

Russian New University
Moscow Automobile and Highway State Technical University (MADI)
Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
Moscow Socio-Economic Institute
Moscow State Transport University
Institute of World Economy and Informatization
Moscow Humanitarian Institute named after E.R. Dashkova
Moscow Institute of Law
Moscow University named after S.Yu. Witte
Russian Academy national economy and public service under the President Russian Federation
Russian Economic University named after. G.V. Plekhanov

Customs training

Specialty Customs: What to take?

Russian language, computer science (ICT), additional exam (additional test provided professional orientation to determine the degree of preparation of the applicant).

The passing score for a customs officer depends on the educational institution itself. The average Unified State Exam score for applicants in Russia: from 32 to 81 points.

You can get a specialty in customs after 11th grade either full-time, part-time, or through evening classes.

Duration of study: full-time - 5 years, evening and part-time - 6 years.

Customs specialty code: 05.38.02.

Student practice

Educational practice is a mandatory event for future customs specialists. Students take it in various freight forwarding organizations, customs terminals and companies that conduct leading export-import operations; distribution at airports and brokerage companies involved in cargo clearance is also possible.

Final certification

Future graduates defend their own diploma project and take a state exam (some universities do not conduct state examinations).

College specializing in customs

Many graduates strive to obtain a specialty in customs after 9th grade; for this purpose it is necessary to have good grades in the certificate and pass the necessary exams for admission. The number of colleges providing training in the specialty “Customs Affairs” is much smaller than universities, however, the passing grade in the average educational institutions below, which is a very favorable fact for future students.

You can join the Federal Customs Service of Russia with secondary vocational education in the following areas: jurisprudence, economics and management, and information science and computer technology, if there are vacancies.

Colleges with a specialty in customs:

Capital Business College, Moscow, customs management;
NOU "College of Information Technologies".

Work in customs specialty

Where and who to work in the specialty of customs? Almost all graduates ask themselves this question. The following specialties are available for future customs officers.