As a public agency, the Customs Service performs key functions for the country’s development, since it plays a leading role within the context of foreign trade. The purpose of Customs is to facilitate and streamline import and export operations through the simplification of Customs procedures and formalities. Likewise, it must both safeguard government interests by enforcing such operations on a timely and accurate basis, and collect associated duties and taxes. Moreover, the Customs Service has to produce foreign trade statistics for the Government, with no prejudice of the other functions that may be to it entrusted by law.

Customs undertakes its functions with 1,380 Customs officers who are staffed in the Customs in Valparaíso; nine Regional Offices; seven Customs Administrations and thirty-nine border crossing.

Customs is present at 90 points of entry, including ports, airports and controlled border crossing.

• Facilitation of foreign trade within the context of globalization.
• Accurate and timely Customs enforcement actions.
• Customs modernization, within the framework of modernization of the State.

The goal of Customs is to render better services to its customers by providing easily accessible information, developing new and more modern procedures and quicker Customs formalities, in accordance with both the international integration of the country and its free- trade- agreements policy.

In its interaction with the private sector, Customs works under the bona fide and integrity principles. Within this context, both the close co-ordination and the working relationship between the public sector and the trading community have become one of the key elements in Customs activities.

The specific tasks undertaken by Customs in order to comply with its functions include the following:

• Improving service quality to facilitate foreign trade;
• Responding quickly to the requirements of the globalized world, particularly to the requirements for the implementation of free-trade-agreements (for example, market access, origin, etc.)
• Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the enforcement process by implementing risk management techniques.
• Fighting against tax evasion, drug traffic and smuggling of goods, and intellectual property rights infringements.
• Enhancing the ability to process Customs intelligence.
• Enhancing modern technologies and the modernization of Customs procedures by implementing automated processes to facilitate and streamline Customs procedures.
• Ensuring the administration transparency and citizen involvement, thus facilitating the access to clear and timely high quality information.
• Improving the Criminal Procedure Reform and the system relating to action under administrative law.
• Strengthening the links and working relationship with both the trading community and the private sector, initiative which fosters the development of strategic alliances to improve management quality and co-operation with other Customs at international level.