While some were established relatively recently, most of the laboratories involved in Customs & Excise work in the European Union have a long history.
The oldest were created in the mid-19th century - starting in 1848 with the Austrian Customs Laboratory in Vienna - and the majority of the laboratories came into being before the mid-20th century.
In the 28 Member States of the European Union, there are 89 laboratories and mobile laboratories.
The principal missions of the European Customs Laboratories are related to:
Missions
|
Part of the total activity
|
---|
Excise, energy taxation and other taxes
|
32%
|
Customs Tariff Nomenclature
|
30%
|
Product quality, fraud detection and consumer health
|
9%
|
Common Agricultural Policy
|
7%
|
Narcotics and psychotropic drugs
|
12%
|
Other (Environment, Forensic, etc.)
|
10%
|
The European Customs Laboratories employ some 2100 people, most of whom are public agents.
The Customs Laboratories staff consists of highly qualified individuals including:
- 68% analysts
- 15% scientific advisors
- 6% research scientists
- 11% of other personnel (court experts, trainers, administrative staff, etc.)
The European Customs Laboratory network deals with an average number of over 460 000 samples per year, out of which almost 220 000 are related to Customs and Excise tasks.
These samples are:
Type of samples analysed by the Customs Laboratories
|
% of samples analysed
|
---|
Food and Beverages (Animal and vegetable products and prepared foodstuffs)
|
28.8
|
Mineral oils
|
22.2
|
Narcotics and psychotropic drugs / chemical precursors
|
18.7
|
Textile / footwear/ Leathers and skins
|
8.2
|
Chemical or industrial products
|
6.1
|
Ores and base metals
|
2.7
|
Elaborate matters
|
2.7
|
Ceramics and glass
|
2.6
|
Plastic / rubber
|
2.0
|
Tobacco products |
1.8
|
Wood / paper
|
1.0
|
Other types of samples |
3.2
|
(The figures were collected from the Laboratories in 2016)
Related links
List of Member States Customs Laboratories