What is the Meaning & Definition of customs

Custom is the tax and/or public office who, often under the orders of a State or political Government, is set to coasts and borders in order to record, manage, and regulate the international traffic of goods and products that enter and graduate from a country. The purpose of custom is multiple and, among other things, deals with controlling the traffic of material goods which are imported and exported, collecting taxes and fees to individual or collective entities.
In addition to control over the goods, the Customs also regulates - entry and exit - traffic of persons and capital to a country, although these do not constitute its main functions, since there are other institutions aimed at such purposes, for example, the banking system.
The custom is formed by customs agents, which is the person authorized by the national Government to control the entry of goods and determine the value of fee to be paid to the person concerned by them.
The administration of the Customs on goods takes place through the customs duty or customs tariff, which refers to the fee or cost to the owner of the products be paid so that they enter the country without being retained by customs security. But they are also set on those products that leave the country. The rates are in accordance with the customs policies and establishing a regulation that sets a price for each type of product: for example, cultural, technological, consumer goods, etc.
One of the reasons why a customs duty is charged is that they constitute tariff items that are used exclusively by the Government of the country and, ultimately involve an important source of income for public policies. At the same time, these practices represent a protection on domestic production, since tax that even more expensive foreign goods would contribute to the consumption of goods produced within the country. Ultimately, the existence of a Customs Office also allows regulated and practices within the framework of the law, avoiding the traffic of illegal products cross-border.
When these regulations are carried to the extreme, one speaks of prohibition or protectionism. While the practices more liberal and flexible on the entry and exit of goods evoke a context of capitalist free trade that has favored in recent decades from globalization.