1. Speak about famous people who worked for Russian Customs. What were they responsible for?

Customs business has always been considered very important.

A number of well-known people around the world worked for the Customs.

They also contributed to its development.

Russian tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich was a head of Russian state for more than 30 years.

It was the time when the main state institutions were formed.

He did a lot to develop customs laws.

He started customs reforms by the Decree “On levying customs duties on goods in Moscow and other cities”.

On April 22 1667 he signed the New Trade Statute.

It was based on the previous legislation and suggestions made by Russian merchants.

It was the first attempt to control customs regimes.

The well-known Russian poet Derzhavin was engaged in foreign trade and customs business.

He was the one to work out the customs tariff which came into effect only in 1800.

Russia changed its free trade policy into protectionist one, when Russian writer Radischev was appointed Head of St. Petersburg customs house.

Mendeleev was Head of the Commission of in charge of customs tariff.

He was sure that protectionist tariff would serve the development of the country as it regulated export and import and stimulated industrial production.

He was one of the first to discover the laws ruling customs business.

2. Speak about famous people who worked for British Customs.

Customs business has always been considered very important.

A number of well-known people around the world worked for the Customs.

They also contributed to its development.

British customs service can boast of some famous people who worked for the customs.

Poet Robert Burns was an excise officer who visited local traders, calculated the amount of money due and issued vouchers stating the amount payable.

Because of the high level of duty on spirits, control of whisky and gin production was very important.

The Excise Collector made his rounds eight times a year collecting duty over a wide area.

It was a dangerous job: collectors were often attacked and robbed.

Matthew Green was a customs officer.

He never neglected his work and had a reputation as a hard-working customs officer.

3. Speak about history of Russian Customs.

The current Russian word for Customs, tamozhnya, appeared in times of Mongol-Tatar yoke.

The word tamga meant “Customs tax, the official who collected it, and stamped seal or statement showing that it had been paid”.

Each market had its tamozhnya and the right to collect duties could be purchased from the state.

Russia has had a Customs Service in some form during the past 1000 years.

Moreover, it has been much more than a force for keeping out contraband.

In fact, it has been a powerful administrative body, serving mainly protectionist interests.

The first Russian Customs Statute was handed down in 1667.

It was strict towards foreigners, who were allowed to trade only in frontier towns on pain of confiscation.

A special tsar’s certificate was required for trading further inside the country.

Such protectionism went on for most of the next 300 years.

Every tsar from Peter the Great to Nicolas II approved laws limiting the import of foreign goods and detecting Russian producers.