History

Customs Service of UNMIK was established in August 1999 by the pillar of the EU, to ensure the application of fair and uniform customs regulations and other provisions applicable to goods, which are subject to customs supervision. On 12 December 2008 Customs Service UNMIK Customs became Kosovo Customs. The new Customs Code was adopted on 11 November 2008 by the Kosovo Assembly, this code enabled transition. Customs code is in full compliance with legal standards of the European Union and among others has as objective the economic development of the Republic of Kosovo.

Aside from customs duties that collected Customs collects also VAT and tax on excise. Besides the collection of revenues, Kosovo Customs protects society from smuggling of drugs and other prohibited goods by the prejudicial effect of economic crime and evasion in revenue.

Kosovo Customs has developed on the basis of EU standards and is funded entirely from Kosovo Consolidated Budget and currently has about 591 employees. It is also supported by the EU through the senior professional from EU customs authority.

Customs also benefit from technical support of the EU Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office (CAFAO), which has helped in the development of basic legislation, organization, structure, and training in staff development. Service staff is composed mainly of ethnic Kosovars of whom 20% are minorities.

Kosovo Customs collects about 70% of revenues to the Kosovo Consolidated Budget with an average 2 cents to 1 euro in a year. The IMF has repeatedly praised the performance Customs and compared with levels in Western Europe services.

Web-site Customs was established in 2002 and is being conducted as an important communication tool in the trade and public, giving more details.