Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-05-02
The Swedish Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country
responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling
the flow of goods, including animals, transports,
personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out
of a country. Traditionally, customs has been
considered as the fiscal subject that charges
customs duties (i.e. tariffs) and other taxes on
import and export.
The Swedish Customs (Swe: Tullverket or simply
Tullen) is the customs service of Sweden. It is a
department of the Government of Sweden and It is
one of the oldest governmental agencies in Sweden,
founded in 1636. It is also Sweden's de facto border
guard.
The Customs supervises the flow of
goods and travelers in and out of
Sweden. Goods subject to duty and
other charges are paid to the Customs.
The image to the right shows the
official logotype of the Swedish
Customs Service. Image: Wikipedia.
Medieval Times
Customs duties have existed at least since the
1100s. However, there is very little information
around about how the Customs was organized and
worked back then.
The purpose of customs duties was fiscal, first
introduced to raise revenue for the state.
Royal Customs Service
Established
The Swedish Customs Services was reorganized and
strengthened in 1636 under a reform initiated by
Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. The Kungliga
Tullverket (The Royal Customs Service) was founded
in 1636 and this year is considered the year of birth
of the Swedish Customs. Its first head was Mårten
Augustinsson (1600 – 1656). On 26 September 1636,
he was appointed Collector-General of the Customs
(Generaltullförvaltare).
Augustinsson became a very wealthy man. Being the
Director-General, he had a personal right to claim
5% of the revenue of the customs duties.
Augustinsson was raised to the nobility in 1645 and
then adopted the name Leijonsköld. In the 1600s
the customs service was let out on lease to customs
inspectors in the respective Swedish county, who in
their turn had local customs agents in the cities.
In former days, goods arriving in Sweden were
transported by sea. Vessels calling at ports in
Sweden were subjects to the "Great Sea Toll" (Swe:
Stora sjötullen) and customs duties were being paid.
However, there was also a domestic toll, known as
the "Little Toll" (Swe: Lilla tullen). Anyone bringing
goods and items to a town to be sold was forced to
pay toll duty on these items, an important source of
income for the Swedish monarchy. Goods put up for
sale could only be done in towns, not in the
countryside. Towns and cities had a monopoly on
trade and commerce.
In 1825, the Swedish Customs Service was
reorganized and received a modern organization
which at large is similar to today’s organization,
headed by a Director-General (Swe:
Generaltulldirektör). In 1825, the Swedish Board of
Customs (Swe: Generaltullstyrelsen) was founded as
an Administrative Government Agency.
The Great Sea Toll (“Stora
sjötullen”)
The Great Sea Toll (Swe: Stora sjötullen or Stora tullen)
was introduced in the first half of the 1500s and
existed until the 1700s. It was a customs duty on
imported and exported products transported by sea
to or from Sweden. All goods arriving by ship from
other countries were subject to the toll and had to
pass the Great Sea Toll Customs House where the
duty was paid. Accounting records for the Great Sea
Toll are available from 1533.
Great Sea Toll stations existed in ports such as
Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö, Karlshamn, Kalmar,
Norrköping, Dalarö, Gävle, Härnösand, and others.
The Border Toll (“Gränstullen”)
In 1638, a border toll (Swe: Gränstullen) was
introduced in the regions of Sweden with a land-
frontier and was a land toll corresponding to the sea
toll.
A border toll had been initiated at the beginning of
the 1600s but was abolished already in 1613. It was
reintroduced in 1638 under the initiative of
Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna.
The Little Toll (“Lilla tullen”)
The Little Toll or the Town Toll (Swe: Lilla tullen or
Stadstullen) was a toll on domestic trade introduced
in Sweden in 1622 by King Gustav II Adolf. It was
introduced foremost to finance the Swedish military
campaigns taken place in the 1620s and the Swedish
entry into the Thirty Years’ War. The Little Toll was a
customs duty on consumables such as foods,
clothes, wood and metal goods, and animals for
consumption brought to towns to be sold there. At
the same time, the commercial sale of goods in the
countryside was made illegal.
In 1686, the Little Toll was extended to comprise
types of products brought to towns for sale, unless
sea toll already been paid for the items.
To prevent the smuggling of goods into towns to
avoid the toll, toll fences were built around the
towns with a few gates, toll gates. There was a
customs house at each gate where officials
inspected the goods entering the town for sale. If it
was an item subject to duty the owner had to pay
the toll fee. The duty was 1/32 of the value of the
goods. This duty rate remained until the Little Toll
was abolished in 1810.
If someone tried to smuggle items or use an
unauthorized way into a town they were fined 40
Daler (Swedish currency at the time). If someone
was sabotaging the toll fence he was fined 100 Daler
for the first offense and 200 Daler for the second.
The image to the right
shows the Roslag toll
gate (Roslagstull) in
Stockholm in 1670.
The image shows the
toll fence and the toll
gate. Image:
Wikipedia.
Stockholm city implemented the Little Toll on 20
November 1622. Still today we can see the remains
of the Little Toll in many Swedish towns, foremost on
the names of streets, squares, etc which names
include the word “tull” (toll) or “port” (gate). In
Stockholm, we have names of places such as
Norrtull and Roslagstull on the northern side,
Skanstull and Hornstull on the southern side, and
Danvikstull on the eastern side, etc. Further, In many
towns, the toll houses still stand.
The Little Toll was abolished in 1810. However, in
Stockholm, the toll gates remained until 1866.
Staple Towns and Approach
Stations
The term "staple" refers to the entire medieval
system of trade and its taxation. Under this system,
the government or the ruler required that all
overseas trade in certain goods be transacted at
specific designated market towns or ports, referred
to as the "staple ports".
In 1636, there were seven staple towns in Sweden,
entitled to transact trading with foreign nations.
These seven towns were Stockholm, Nyköping,
Norrköping, Söderköping, Västervik, Kalmar, and
Göteborg.
In Norrland, the northern half of Sweden, there were
no staple towns (Swe: Stapelstad) at all. The so-called
Bottniska Handelstvånget (Gulf of Bothnia Trade Act)
prohibited this. This was a Swedish trade policy
measure introduced in 1350 and wasn’t abolished
until 1765. The Act prohibited shipping from ports in
Norrland and Finland (then Swedish) to towns south
of Stockholm or Åbo in Finland. The Ports of
Norrland and Finland were also prohibited from
receiving overseas imports.
One city in the southern part of Norrland, Gävle, was
permitted to import and export goods from
overseas, however, the customs clearance had to be
made in Stockholm.
Besides Kalmar, most staple towns were located in
the inner part of an archipelago. Therefore special
customs stations were established in the outer part
of the archipelago to prevent the smuggling of
goods. These outer customs stations were called
Approach Stations (Swe: Inloppsstationer). Mariners
calling a port were therefore forced to declare their
goods in the outer archipelago before they reached
the port of call.
Examples of approach stations: Dalarö, Barösund,
and Spårösund on the east coast and Älvsborg on
the west coast.
At the approach station, the master had to hand
over a specification of the cargo aboard the vessel to
the customs officers. However, the customs duty
was paid in the port of call.
Between 1636 and 1928, Dalarö in the southern
Stockholm archipelago was the approach customs
station for the port of Stockholm.
In the 1690s, special customs warehouses (Swe:
Tullpackhus), a type of warehouse for undeclared
goods, were established where the masters were
able to unload their cargo; The customs duty was
paid when the goods were collected from the
customs warehouse.
“Packhus” is an older Swedish term for warehouse
and a “tullpackhus” was a storage building for
customs clearance of goods on which duty was
payable and for short-term keeping before
inspection and clearance and sale of imported items
etc.
The image to the right
shows the customs
warehouse
(Tullpackhus) in
Sundsvall circa 1903 -
1913. Image:
Sundsvalls museum,
ID: SuM-foto032832.
The Stockholm Customs warehouse was located on
Skeppsholmen. It was built at the beginning of the
1700s and was used by the Customs until 2000 even
if it then hadn’t been used as a customs warehouse
for many decades. This current customs warehouse
replaced an older one in 1785. The Gothenburg
Customs warehouse was built in 1710.
At the customs warehouses, the imported goods
were unpacked, inspected, counted up, measured
out, and quality controlled. This heavy and chore
work was performed by customs warehousemen
while customs officers calculated the customs duty
to be paid by the importers.
The Customs House (Swe: Tullkammare) was the
local customs administration and they have existed
since the 1600s. Customs Houses were established
in all staple towns and they had the unrestricted
right to perform all customs clearance. The Sea
Customs House in Gothenburg was set up in 1636
for the clearance of imported goods. The head of a
Customs House was the Customs Administrator
(Swe: Tullförvaltare), directly subordinated to the
Swedish Board of
Customs (Swe:
Generaltullstyrelsen).
The image to the right
shows the Customs House
(Tullkammare) (to the left)
in Karlskrona, 1890s.
Image: Marinmuseum, ID:
MM07111.
Under the 1831 Customs Regulations, there were
both customs houses and customs inspections. In
1876, customs stations were introduced. The
coastal customs stations had a restricted right to
perform customs clearance.
In 1919, there were Customs Inspection stations
(Swe: Tullinspektion) in, among others, Dalarö,
Sandhamn, and Furusund. The local Customs
Inspection station was headed by a Customs
Inspector (Swe: Tullinspektör). In 1923, the Customs
Inspection stations were closed, and their service
was merged with the Customs stations.
The customs stations are the smallest unit within the
Swedish Customs Service and are only located at
places where the is a minor traffic load to foreign
countries.
Passport & Passport Control
In 1860, the compulsory passport system for travel
abroad was abolished in Sweden. Before 1860,
everyone needed to bring passport documents on
foreign travel. The passport had to be shown both
upon the outward journey abroad as well as when
arriving back home to Sweden. The passport was
shown to the customs officers and the officers kept
a journal in which they noted each travelers name,
place of residence, the purpose of the journey, and
the date of the exit journey/entry home.
The compulsory passport system was abolished in
1860 as an effect of increasing traveling with the
then-new means of transport such as rail transport
and steamboats. However, in 1914, at the beginning
of World War I, the compulsory passport system was
reintroduced in Sweden, now with the Police as the
responsible authority.
Court of Customs & Court of
Excise - Special Courts
Customs duty and clearance were administered by
the Customs Service which was organized under the
National Board of Trade (Swe: Kommerskollegium).
The National Board of Trade was thereby the Court
of Customs Appeals. The customs courts are called
“Tull and Accisrätt” (“Toll and Excise Court) in Swedish.
An excise, or excise tax, is any duty on
manufactured goods that is levied at the moment of
manufacture rather than at sale. Excises are often
associated with customs duties. Customs are levied
on goods that come into existence – as taxable
items – at the border, while excise is levied on goods
that came into existence inland.
Excise was a consumption tax introduced in Sweden
under the Toll and Excise Act of 1572. In 1622, a
decree stipulated excise on the manufacture and
sale of products produced by brewers, butchers, fish
peddlers, etc.
Customs officers with the Little Toll (Town Toll) also
worked with the goods liable to excise and collected
its fees.
Court of Excise
To pass sentences in court proceedings on criminal
cases regarding offenses with the excise and duty
regulations, a special court was created between
1664 and 1672, the Court of Excise (Swe: Accisrätt).
This type of court was established in cities.
The Court of Excise also passed sentences in cases
regarding unlawful purchasing of land and other
crimes against sales excise (such as selling brewery
products without proper authorization). The
sentences were usually confiscation and fines.
Under the Court of Excise Act of 1672, an Inspector
General (Swe: Generalinspektör) was the chairman of
the court assisted by legal assessors which usually
was the Mayor (Swe: Borgmästare) and a court judge
(Swe: Rådman).
The court of excise was abolished in 1811. Court
cases regarding excise were thereafter processed by
the City Court, a district court in cities, Swe:
“Rådhusrätten”) and the Court of Customs (Swe;
Sjötullrätt).
Court of Customs, “Tullrätt or Sjötullrätt”
The Court of Sea Customs or Court or Customs
(Swe: Sjötullrätt or Tullrätt) was s special court for
cases regarding crimes against the Sea Customs
statues and existed in all staple towns.
A Court of Customs was accepting cases brought to
light in the vicinity it the town where it was located.
The Court of Customs was abolished in 1831 and
criminal cases that this court formerly was
responsible for were thereafter processed by the
City Court, a district court in cities, Swe:
“Rådhusrätten”). From 1831, both Stockholm and
Gothenburg had special sections with respective City
Court for cases regarding customs cases.
The Court of Customs was under the regulation of
the Sailing Order (Swe: Seglationsordningen). Its
object was the regulation of the foreign trade,
foremost by restricting the number of towns, staple
towns, i.e., towns with the right to take deliveries of
shipments from foreign ships in their ports. The
Sailing Order made it more difficult for ships to
make land at Swedish ports. Ships arriving or
departing Swedish ports were compelled to report
to the Customs Station which supervised that the
correct customs duty was paid and that the masters
upheld the law.
The sentences passed by the Court of Customs were
usually confiscation and fines. Serious offenses
could result in the loss of the office held by the
perpetrator or loss of burgher-ship. Free-holding
farmers could be deprived of their properties.
The prosecuting attorney in customs cases was
called “Tullfiskal” in Swedish (Customs Fiscal
Prosecutor).
In regions of Sweden with land-frontier, foremost in
Jämtland and Torneå in Norrbotten, there were
special Frontier Courts (Swe: Gränstullrätt) passing
sentences in cases regarding smuggling. In 1933, the
Haparanda Frontier Court in Norrbotten was the last
to be disestablished.
History of Swedish
Customs Service - 1
Swedish Border Guard
A border guard of a country is a national security
agency that performs border security. Some of the
national border guard agencies also perform coast
guard and rescue service duties.
Guarding of the land-frontiers was performed to
stop people from unlawfully entering Sweden and
this duty was one of the Customs Service’s three
major tasks. The border surveillance in the provinces
Dalsland, Värmland, and Dalarna along the
Norwegian border was carried out in a special
department of the Customs. In the 1860s, the
guarding of the frontier in these provinces was
carried out by 7 “gränsridare”, mounted frontier
guards, employed by the Customs Service. Their
major task was to counteract smuggling across the
border. In the 1880s, the number of customs stations
and frontier outposts. In the 1930s, these stations
and outposts were as most numerous.
Land-Frontier Guards “Gränsridare”:
The frontier guards patrolled their respective districts
on foot, on horsebacks, by bike, motorcycle, and
boats. These land-frontier guards were called
“Gränsridare” in Swedish. However, from 1923 they
were called frontier
supervisors (Swe:
gränsuppsyningsmän).
In 1908 there were 141 land-
frontier guards of which 52
were mounted.
The image two the right
shows two “gränsridare” in
Bohuslän in 1924 wearing
uniform. Image: Bohusläns
museum, ID:
UMFA53671:0176.
In other words, a “Gränsridare” was a customs officer
attached to the Border Guard performing border
surveillance patrolling the Swedish land-frontiers.
A “Gränsinspektion” was a frontier checkpoint with a
restricted customs clearance service managed by a
Frontier Inspector (Swe: Gränsinspektör). Under the
1923 Customs reform, the operation of these
checkpoints was passed on to the frontier customs
stations (Swe: Gränstullstationer). the customs
stations were located by public roads along the
border with Norway and Finland. The stations had
unrestricted customs clearance service managed by
a Frontier Supervisor (Swe: Gränsuppsyningsman). In
1928, the frontier customs stations were conformed
under the organization of the Customs Stations.
The Customs border surveillance in Värmland was
established in 1638 when the border toll was
introduced.
Swedish Coast Guard
Since the 1600s, the Swedish Coast Guard was a
subdivision within the Customs Service. However, in
1988 the Coast Guard became an independent
government agency under the Ministry of Defense.
Today the Swedish Coast Guard is organized under
the Ministry of Justice.
Frontier surveillance on land was performed by the
Border Guard and the sea borders by the Coast Guard.
Sea border surveillance was carried out by both the
Navy as well as the Coast Guard.
So, the Customs Service carried out certain military
commissions since they were handling land and sea
border surveillance, and its managers were referred
to as officers or commanders.
[The term “officer” is usually only used by the military
in Sweden.]
From the 1600s, surveillance of the sea borders and
the war against smuggling
at sea was conducted by
customs yachts (Swe:
tulljakter) at sea and by
mounted guards on the
seashores (Swe:
Stranridare).
The image to the right
shows a customs officer
with the Coast Guard with
his official bicycle in the
1930s. Image:
Kustbevakningen (Coast
Guard).
Mounted Seashore Guards “Strandridare”
In 1638, a service was established which later
developed into the Coast Guard. Special seashore
guards called “Strandridare” in Swedish were used
to prevent smuggling and plundering of wrecks. A
“Strandridare” was a mounted customs officer
attached to the Coast Guard department within the
Customs Service patrolling the shores of the Swedish
sea borders.
The first two seashore guards were employed in
1638 in Kalmar on the southern part of the Swedish
east coast. Their 250 km long patrol district was
carried out on foot or on horsebacks. In the first
decades of the 1900s patrolling was also performed
on bicycles. These surveillances of the sea shores
was the major duty of the Coast Guard for 300 years,
up to World War II.
In 1832, this service was reorganized and the former
“Strandridare” were replaced by Coast Supervisors
(Swe: Kustuppsyningsmän).
Under a regulation for the Maritime Pilotage
Service (Swe: Lotsverket), the pilots were to
cooperate with the Coast Guard of the Customs
Service to prevent smuggling.
The coast surveillance carried out by the Coast Guard
was done in former days by customs yachts and
smaller boats.
During the first half of the 1800s, smuggling and
other trickeries were very intensive and large-scaled,
therefore the Coast Guard was in some customs
districts organized like military units between 1833
and 1904. The guards were armed and stood under
military laws. Their ranks were Coast Commander
(Kustchef), Coast Sergeant (Kustsergeant), and coast
guard (Kustvakt).
The civilian ranks with the Coast Guard were Coast
Inspector (Kustinspektor), Coast Supervisor
(Överuppsyningsman ), and Yacht Supervisor
(Jaktuppsyningsman). Lower in rank were the men;
Coast oarsman (Kustroddare) and Yacht Man
(Jaktbåtsman).
In the 1910s, motorboats were introduced which
was were a far better means in the surveillance of
coastal areas than oars and sails.
The image to the
right shows a
customs yacht
(tulljakt) in
Bohuslän in the
1910s. Image:
Bohusläns museum,
ID:
UMFA53247:0051.
The
image to the left shows a coast guard
officer wearing his uniform in 1932.
Photo: Julius Johnson. Image:
Trelleborgs museum, ID: TM.EJJ:1141.
During World War II, the Swedish
Coast Guard was assigned new tasks
such as the supervision of navigation,
inspections of ships and crew,
passports, radio transmitters, etc.
As mentioned above, a “Strandridare” was a
mounted customs officer attached to the Coast
Guard department within the Customs Service. There
is another profession with a similar name,
“Strandfogde”.
Note, “Strandridare” and “Strandfogde” were not the
same profession. The “Stranfogde” was a Royal official
(Bailiff) with the duty to supervise the shores of
Sweden (fishery, etc.) and to ensure that the revenue
from stranded wrecks was added to the Royal
treasury. Therefore, among the bailiff’s duties was to
report all things that were cast up by the sea and
wrecked ships. These bailiffs were usually appointed
among coastal people, for example fishermen.
The Coast Guard Becomes an Independent
Government Agency
In 1988 the Coast Guard was separated from the
Customs Service and became an independent
government agency under the Ministry of Defense.
As of 2015, the Swedish Coast Guard is organized
under the Ministry of Justice, as a civilian government
agency.
The Coast Guard Headquarters are located in
Karlskrona.
Sea border surveillance is carried out by both the
Navy as well as the Coast Guard. The Sea
Surveillance Centers (Swe: Sjöbevakningscentraler) are
therefore jointly operated by the Navy and the Coast
Guard.
The Coast Guard has the same right as the Customs
Service to check up and inspect ships. Within their
area of responsibility, the Coast Guard has the same
authority as the Police. Further, like police officers,
members of the Coast Guard are equipped with
personal firearms.
The Coast Guard monitors the Sea in coastal areas
and performs inspections and other supervising
activities. They also carry out environmental rescue
operations, for example when there is an oil
discharge.
The Coast Guard operates 23 coast guard stations
and a coast guard airbase at Skavsta airport. The
stations are organized under two regional
headquarters, Stockholm and
Gothenburg. The head of the Coast Guard
is a Director-General.
The image to the right shows the official
logotype of the Swedish Coast Guard.
Image: Wikipedia.
Customs Officers
A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who
enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.
In 1638, the so-called “strandridare” was introduced,
mounted customs officer attached to the Coast
Guard department within the Customs Service, to be
used to prevent smuggling and plundering of wrecks.
In 1832, this service was reorganized and the former
“Strandridare” were replaced by Coast Supervisors
(Swe: Kustuppsyningsmän).
In the 1700s, the customs officers were equipped
with special insignias or badges as identification of
customs officers on duty. At the beginning of the
1800s, several uniform regulations were introduced
for the customs officers
During the Swedish Great Power period, which ended
in 1721, the Swedish borders were next to endless.
After the loss of Finland in 1809, Sweden still had a
very long coastline, 2,400 km (1,491 mi) (as the crow
flies). Then, add about 100,000 islands in the coastal
areas. Besides these sea borders, there are also long
land-frontiers, often in rugged terrain. The Swedish
land-frontier with Norway is 1,619 km (1,006 mi) and
with Finland 586 km (364 mi), i.e. in total 2,205 km
(1,370 mi). So, the size of the country made the
borders difficult to guard.
In 1638, there were 55 customs officers employed.
However, the force gradually grew and in 1821 there
were 1,022 customs officers. However, the number of
officers was still inadequate to watch over all ports,
coastlines, islands, and frontiers at all hours all the
year-round. The government’s ambition and financial
assets were quite the reverse and in this gap, the
smuggling thrived.
The Customs Service was underfinanced which of
course affected the customs officers’ salaries which
were low. This was a breeding ground for corruption
which was widespread at the beginning of the 1800s.
Besides, people, as a rule, didn’t consider smuggling
as a criminal offense. The smugglers that were
caught weren’t regarded as criminals among the
public, but rather as a kind of hero and people
sympathized with them. Smuggling reached a peak in
the 1820s. As a result, in 1825, the Swedish Board of
Customs (Swe: Generaltullstyrelsen) was founded and
the Customs now got new effective management.
The customs service braced up, the staffs’ salaries
were raised, the discipline sharpened and in 1831 a
new service regulation was adopted.
The coast guard was reinforced, put in uniform, and
was armed with sabers, pistols, and rifles. In 1835,
the coast guard officers were placed under martial
laws and received a military type of ranks. The coast
guard became more or less a military corps.
The coast guard became a forceful unit and the
smuggling was successfully restricted.
Even if the war against smuggling was successful, the
Coast Guard wasn’t able to stop all smuggling.
Instead, the smugglers equipped themselves with
arms, and since the Customs and the Coast Guard
kept a tight rein on the smugglers, a war-like
situation arose between the Coast Guard officers and
the smugglers. In the 1820s and 1830s, the
confrontations between the Coast Guard and the
smugglers could develop into violent battles. The
violence was substantial, and the Coast Guard
officers were often threatened or maltreated by
organized gangs of smugglers. From time to time the
Customs had to bring in army units to protect and
reinforce the Coast Guard units. However, the
violence wasn’t one-sided, the Coast Guard officer
could also be heavy-handed.
However, the era of organized smuggling was coming
to an end. The introduction of several free trade
reforms in the middle of the 1800s took the edge off
large-scale smuggling. Lower customs tariffs and
elimination prohibitions made organized smuggling
unprofitable.
Protectionism was reintroduced in the 1880s, and the
free trade era was finished. Smuggling stepped up
and was gradually increasing to formerly exploded in
the 1920s when a more
restrictive policy concerning
alcohol. The smuggling of liquor
that commenced in the 1920s
was huge.
The image to the right shows a
Swedish customs officer in
1935. Photo: Ingeborg Enander
(1880 - 1976). Image: Bohusläns
museum, ID:
UMFA53690:16318.
Today, customs officers work with different tasks,
much depending on the customs department, an
officer is attached to. The Customs field officers in
uniform working at border crossings have the same
authority as the Police regarding smuggling offenses.
They are equipped with body armor, handcuffs,
expandable batons, communication radios, OC-spray,
etc. However, the officers in uniform do not usually
carry personal firearms. However, Customs officers
in plain clothes carry concealed firearms.
The Organization of the Swedish
Customs Service Today
The Swedish Customs (Swe: Tullverket or
simply Tullen) is headed by a Director-
General (Swe: Generaltulldirektör). The
agency also has a Deputy Director-
General (Swe: Överdirektör). It is a law
enforcement agency.
The Customs Service is organized into ten
departments. The operational departments are:
Intelligence Department (Underrättelseavdelningen),
Customs Check Dept (Kontrollavdelningen), Revenue
Dept (Uppbördsavdelningen), and Customs Criminal
Investigation Dept (Tullkriminalavdelningen). Each
operational department consists of several subunits.
Other departments are: Fiscal Department
(Ekonomiavdelningen), Judicial Department
(Rättsavdelningen), HR-dept, IT-dept, Administration
Dept (Administrationsavdelningen), and
Communication Dept (Kommunikationsavdelningen).
The Customs Check Department is responsible for
supervising and checking vehicles and vessels to and
from Sweden. Border protection units
(Gränsskyddsgrupper) carry out frontier control and
are deployed in all regions of Sweden. The border
control units are part of the Check Department.
The Customs Criminal Investigation Department
conducts all preliminary investigations within the
Customs. The criminal investigation department has
three fields of activities; reconnaissance,
investigations of major crimes, and investigations of
crimes in large numbers. The investigators are
equipped with guns.
The Customs has the use of an
Intelligence Department.
The Revenue Department is
responsible for the
establishment of customs duties
and to impose duties, sales tax
and other taxes, and fees.
The Customs is organized into 4
territorial divisions: Öst, Väst,
Syd och Nord (East, West, South,
and North). See the map to the
right. Wikipedia.
Today’s rank insignias - Swedish Customs, Historic
rank insignias
The Organization of the Swedish
Coast Guard Today
The Swedish Coast Guard is tasked with
maritime surveillance and other control
and inspection tasks as well as
environmental cleanup after oil discharges
at sea. If needed, the Coast Guard carries
out search and rescue operations. The
Swedish Coast Guard also carries out
surveillance by air, and in the wintertime by
hovercraft on the ice-covered waters of the Bay of
Bothnia in northern Sweden.
The Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency and
has within their field of activities partly the same
power as the Police. The Coast Guard officers carry
guns (Glock 17), pepper spray (OC spray), batons, and
handcuffs.
The Swedish Coast Guard was reorganized in 2016
and consists today of six departments. The
Operational Department is responsible for all Coast
guard maritime operations. They are also responsible
for the about 20 coastal stations along the coast of
Sweden and the Coast Guard airbase at Skavsta
Airport in Nyköping. The Headquarters is located in
the naval town Karlskrona. The service has
operational centers in Karlskrona, Gothenburg,
Stockholm, Härnösand, and Nyköping.
The Coast Guard has a large number of vessels of
various sizes and these provided bases for its
operations. The types of vessels are: surveillance
vessels (patrol vessels), environmental protection
vessels, multipurpose vessels, hovercraft, barges, and
boats such as high speed/go fast, rib-boats, dinghies,
jet-skis, and workboats.
The Coast Guard Aviation Service consists of three
Bombardier Dash 8 Q-300 aircraft bases at Skavsta
Airport. The aircraft patrols the coast of Sweden on
regular basis.
Today’s rank insignias - Swedish Coast Guard,
Historic rank insignias
