Customs undertakes the important function of combating smuggling. On the basis of the original administrative law enforcement function, the state has granted customs criminal law enforcement power and established a customs anti-smuggling department specifically to combat smuggling crimes. In the long-term law enforcement practice, customs anti-smuggling police have used a combination of criminal and administrative law enforcement methods to effectively combat smuggling illegal activities.
(I) Determination of smuggling crimes
The smuggling crime in the Criminal Law is a category of crimes, which includes several specific crimes, a total of 12: smuggling of ordinary goods and articles, smuggling of drugs, smuggling of narcotics manufacturing materials, smuggling of waste, smuggling of cultural relics, smuggling of weapons and ammunition, smuggling of nuclear materials, smuggling of counterfeit currency, smuggling of precious metals, smuggling of precious animals and animal products, smuggling of rare plants and rare plant products, and smuggling of obscene articles.
The cross-border e-commerce retail import field mainly involves the smuggling of ordinary goods and articles.
(II) Crime of smuggling ordinary goods and articles
The crime of smuggling ordinary goods and articles refers to the act of violating customs laws and regulations, evading customs supervision, illegally transporting, carrying or mailing goods and articles that should pay customs duties and other import and export taxes collected by customs in the import and export links, evading taxes payable in large amounts and serious circumstances, and the act of selling bonded goods or specific tax-exempt goods for profit in the country without customs permission and without paying the taxes payable, with a large amount and serious circumstances. It should be emphasized that “the crime of smuggling ordinary goods and articles” is a selective crime, and it is necessary to determine whether the object of the smuggling crime is “goods” or “articles” to determine the actual situation of “smuggling ordinary goods” or “smuggling ordinary articles”.
In civil law theory, goods and articles belong to the category of things, but in the field of customs law involving foreign trade, goods and articles have specific meanings. According to the provisions of the Customs Law and the Regulations on the Implementation of Customs Administrative Penalties, “articles” refer to luggage and articles that individuals transport or carry into or out of the country, and articles that are mailed into or out of the country, including currency, gold and silver, etc. Anything exceeding the reasonable quantity for personal use shall be deemed as goods. “Personal use” refers to the passenger or recipient’s personal use or gifting to relatives and friends, rather than for sale or rental. “Reasonable quantity” refers to the normal quantity determined by the customs based on the passenger or recipient’s situation, travel purpose and length of stay. Based on the interpretation of “personal use” and “reasonable quantity” in laws and regulations, combined with the definitions of “goods” and “articles”, we can draw a basic conclusion: the “goods” in the crime of smuggling ordinary goods and articles should undoubtedly have a tradable commercial nature; while “articles” should generally not have a tradable non-commercial nature, and even if they do, they should be limited to personal use and reasonable quantities.