Customs House, Brisbane, Australia, ca. 1906

A Custom House or Customs House was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods.

The Customs House was typically located in a seaport or in a city on a major river with access to the ocean. These cities acted as a port of entry into a country and the government was interested in locating a customs house in those cities in order to collect taxes and regulate commerce.

Due to advances in electronic information systems, the increased volume of international trade and the introduction of air travel, the Customs House is now often a historical oddity. There are many examples of buildings around the world whose former use was as a Custom House but have since been converted for other use.

Gallery

<gallery> Image:Customs House, Philadelphia.jpg|Customs House, Philadelphia image:Customs-House-Brisbane.jpg|Customs House, Brisbane Image:SydneyCustomsHouse_gobeirne.jpg|Customs House, Sydney Image:Dublin custom house 2.jpg|Custom House, Dublin Image:ShanghaiBundCustomsHouse.jpg|Customs House, Shanghai Image:CustomHouse.jpg|Custom House Tower, Boston Image:Portland Maine Custom House.JPG|Custom House, Portland Image:Custom House Queen Sq.jpg|Custom House, Queen Square, Bristol Image:Customs House Montreal.jpg|Customs House, Montreal </gallery>

See also

• Customs broking

External links

• Philadelphia Customs House

cs:Celnice de:Zollhaus (Gebäude)

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