Human competencies and administrative uniformity

The Customs role of managing border-related regulations is predicated on the concept of a Customs ‘territory’, whereby goods crossing the border of that territory are subject to tariffs or other regulations of commerce. While the essential nature of border management has remained fairly constant overtime, the relevant regulations and associated procedures are becoming increasingly complex. For this reason, the need to facilitate trade, particularly between major trading partners, is of growing importance. The paragon of trade facilitation is the formation of a Customs union in which the Customs territories of individual Member States are treated as a single Customs territory. This allows for the elimination of tariffs and other crossborder regulations among Member States and for trade with third parties to be regulated in a uniform manner. The European Union is the exemplification of a Customs union,providing for frictionless trade among its Member States through the removal of their internal borders (as a result of the internal market) and other regulatory obstacles to the free movement of goods.