The Virtual Customs Office

Text 4

Text 3

Customs is an орган (власти) or agency in a country responsible for сбор и сохранение Customs duties and for controlling the товаропоток including animals, личные вещи and опасные предметы in and out of a country. Depending on local законодательство and regulations, the import or export of some товары may be restricted or forbidden, and the Customs agency enforces these правила.

The Customs may be different from the иммиграционные власти, which monitors persons who leave or enter the country, checking for соответствующий documentation, apprehending people wanted by international ордера на арест, and impeding the въезд of others deemed dangerous to the country.

A таможенная пошлина is a tariff or tax on the export of goods. In the Kingdom of England, Customs duties were typically part of the обычный доход of the king, and therefore did not need парламентское согласие to be levied, unlike акцизный налог, налог на землю, or other forms of taxes.

Commercial goods not yet cleared through Customs are held in a таможенная зона, often called a склад временного хранения, until processed.

Exercise 16. Answer the following questions:

1. What is Customs responsible for?

2. What is immigration authority responsible for?

3. What is a Customs duty?

4. Where are commercial goods held uncleared?

Exercise 17. Translate into Russian.

Typical work at the Customs includes:

§ processing and risk-assessing passengers entering or leaving Russia (including baggage and personal search);

§ processing of cargo including documentary checks and physical examination (including at international mail centres and air and sea ports);

§ boarding ships and aircraft to check compliance with regulations;

§ searching ships for undocumented cargo, prohibited goods and stowaways;

§ collection of duty;

§ administrative work related to the above.

Exercise 18. Read Text 4 to answer the following questions:

1. In what country was the virtual Customs office established?

2. Why was this system introduced?

3. What does a virtual Customs office contain?

4. What does this project demonstrate?

5. What does it provide?

The Customs officer belongs to one of the longest established professions in the world, full of traditions and values. However, the world continuously moves on in order to keep up with demands of the 21^st century (increased volume of trade abolition, new technologies, etc).

For example, the economy of Sweden is dependent on foreign trade and Customs is big business there. This resulted in the introduction of the virtual Customs offices and sophisticated automated risk-analysis operators.

The virtual Customs office contains a number of integrated, interdepartmental E-Services important for the Swedish business community.

The objective of this project was to provide a Virtual Customs Office, offering a high level of service, for example, service in a range of languages, currently numbering ten.

The Swedish Virtual Customs Office offers customers free web-services for Customs business in order to facilitate day-to-day work and also strengthen Swedish competitiveness.

Through automated clearance systems, 70% of the declarations are treated within three minutes. Currently the following client groups use the numerous services integrated into the Virtual Customs Office: Frequent Traders, Infrequent Traders, Citizens, Students, Press and Media.

Thus, the long term objective for The Virtual Customs Office is to give total mobility to Customs procedures. In order to achieve this, tailor-made electronic and web-services according to the needs of each of the customer segments are made available for free in the areas Information, Communication, Tools and Transactions.

Exercise 19. Read Text 4 again to find the English equivalents for:

давно существующая профессия; соответствовать требованиям; зависеть от внешней торговли; деловое сообщество; содействие торговле; высокий уровень услуг; автоматизированный анализ рисков; цель проекта; облегчать (упрощать) повседневную работу; укреплять конкурентоспособность;обрабатывать декларации.

Exercise 20. Choose the facts in the text to prove that:

1. The virtual computer is an old dream, a long story associated with the evolution of the computer.

2. Virtualization has always faced the need for better performance in terms of speed and development time.

3. Server virtualization reduces the costs and provides more flexibility for users.

4. The Virtual Customs Office in itself is a great innovation.

Exercise 21. Translate into Russian.

1) Swedish Customs initiated the construction of the Virtual Customs Office.

2) Swedish traders use electronic processes in their foreign trade procedures.

3) The Virtual Customs Office provides uniquely designed E-Services.

4) Web-technology helps put the focus on the client.

5) Virtual Customs opens new business opportunities for clients.

Exercise 22. Read Text 5 and speak on different Customs officer jobs.

Before reading study the following words and word-combinations:

to range – выстраивать(-ся) в определенном порядке; быть в пределах;

relatively – относительно;

border entries (=entryways) – (въездные) пункты пропуска на границе;

trucks – груженые фуры; грузовики;

to ensure – обеспечивать; гарантировать;

to investigate parcels – исследовать, проверять посылки;

thoroughly inspected – тщательно проверенный;

a shipper – грузоотправитель;

(the) appropriate documents – соответствующие документы;

safety – безопасность;

unique – уникальный;

suspicious – подозрительный;

to handle high-pressure situations – справляться с напряженными ситуациями;

prohibited items – запрещенные товары;

taxable – подлежащий обложению налогом;

to deal with a variety of personalities – контактировать, справляться с разными типами характера людей;

extensive cargo issues – выпуск (прохождение через таможню) растущего количества грузов.

Text 5*

Дата добавления: 2015-03-29