Norwegian Customs and Excise - StatRes (discontinued), 2011

Due to higher imports, revenue from custom duties and taxes rose by 6.5 per cent, or NOK 12.4 billion from 2010. The arrears in collection of taxes were low. A total of 99.86 per cent of determined and overdue claims were paid in 2011; the corresponding figure for 2010 was 99.84 per cent. Excluding arrears resulting from control claims, the agency collected 99.9 per cent of the claims in 2011.

Economic audits revealed 192 serious contraventions

Customs and Excise Administration carries out different types of economic audits to ensure proper declaration of customs duties and taxes. As a result, 192 serious contraventions were revealed. This is the highest level recorded in the period 2005-2011. Thirty-six of the most serious offences were reported to the police.

Due to a higher level of trade, the amount of declarations reached 6.3 million in 2011. This is an increase of 269 000 declarations, or 4.5 per cent, compared to 2010. A total of 174 877 declarations were inspected, and 30.8 per cent revealed violations of a varying severity. In comparison, 183 330 declarations were inspected in 2010 and the detection rate as a percentage of audits was 33.8.

Another type of economic control is checks of excise duty declarations. A total of 558 audits were conducted in 2011, compared to 585 in 2010. Violations were uncovered in more than half of the excise duty declarations, a somewhat higher level than previous years.

In addition, the agency conducts post-clearance audits. A total of 1 561 inspections were carried out in 2011, compared with 1 538 in 2010. A total of 75.7 per cent of the audits revealed errors, and compared with 2010 the detection rate as a percentage of inspections increased 9.4 percentage points.

Overall, the economic controls mentioned above uncovered withheld customs and excise duties totalling NOK 673 million, compared with NOK 730 million in 2010.

Border inspections led to 35 500 seizures

In order to prevent illegal imports and exports of goods, the agency carries out border inspections of travellers, transport and goods. In 2011, 215 837 border inspections were conducted. In comparison, the agency conducted 206 482 inspections in 2010. The share of inspections revealing illegal imports and exports of goods was 11.7 per cent, which was the same level as in 2010.

As a result of the border inspections, the agency made 35 519 seizures in 2011. A total of 6 568 cases were reported to the police, 762 of which were considered serious contraventions. Of merchandises with high tax levels, approximately 529 000 litres of alcoholic beverages and more than 9 million cigarettes where confiscated. As regards drugs, there was a particularly large increase in the seizure of cannabis. Seizures of heroin, cocaine and amphetamine went down compared to 2010.

Shorter processing time for applications received from industry

The processing time for applications was shorter in 2011 than in previous years. The agency processed 98.7 per cent of the applications for customs credit within two weeks. The corresponding figure in 2010 was 97.6 per cent. For applications regarding status alterations of motor vehicles, 96.9 per cent of the applications were processed within two weeks, compared to 94.1 per cent in 2010. For applications regarding classification of goods, 86.2 per cent were processed within 30 days, compared to 74.9 per cent in 2010 and 73.9 per cent in 2009.

Total expenditure went up 8.7 per cent

In 2011, total expenditure of the agency was NOK 1 798 million, an increase of 8.7 per cent from 2010. Operating expenditure due to salaries and purchases of goods and services was NOK 1 516 million and rose 7.2 per cent compared with 2010. In addition, the agency had expenditures in transfers and gross acquisition of non-financial assets totalling NOK 183 and NOK 99 million respectively, an increase of 18.1 and 17.9 per cent from 2010. The number of contracted man-years adjusted for long-term leave was 1 742 in 2011; an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 2010.