The U.S. Customs Service

　　The major responsibility of the U.S. Customs Service is to administer the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. The Customs Service is one of the nation's major border enforcement agencies, so it also has responsibility for enforcing some 400 laws and regulations on international traffic and trade for 40 other government agencies.

     The Customs Service's mission includes: protecting the nation's revenue by assessing and collecting duties, taxes and fees incident to international traffic and trade; controlling, regulating, and facilitating the movement of carriers, people, and commodities between the United States and other nations; protecting the American consumer and the environment against the introduction of hazardous or noxious products into the United States; protecting domestic industry and labor against unfair foreign competition; and detecting, interdicting, and investigating smuggling and other illegal practices aimed at illegally entering narcotics, drugs, contraband or other prohibited articles into the United States.
   Customs is also responsible for detecting, interdicting, and investigating fraudulent activities intended to avoid the payment of duties, taxes and fees, or activities meant to evade the legal requirements of international traffic and trade; and for detecting, interdicting, and investigating illegal international trafficking in arms, munitions, currency, and acts of terrorism at U.S. ports of entry.