The Customs Service was established in Sakhalin

The defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 ended Russia’s sole ownership of Sakhalin Island. According to the terms of the Peace Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) the southern part of the island was ceded to Japan. Under new conditions the priorities of the government policy in the Far East changed. Industrialists of Russia viewed the outlying districts of the Far East as a stable market for selling their goods. The law of January 16 (29), 1909 which abolished the free trade zone in Priamurye, maintained the duty-free importation of goods in the following areas: north of the mouth of the Amur River, Kamchatka and Sakhalin. The Minister of Finance V. N. Kokovtsev was assigned to develop proposals for opening customs institutions in Aleksandrovsk-in-Sakhalin and Petropavlovsk-in-Kamchatka. On June 1 (14), 1910 the emperor signed the law on allocation of funds from the State Treasury for the establishment of customs control in Petropavlovsk and Aleksandrovsk ports, which was previously approved by the State Duma and the State Council.

August 3 (16), 1910, when the Governing Senate published the Order of the Ministry of Finance “On Foundation of Petropavlovsk and Aleksandrovsk Customs Posts in Amur Customs District”, is considered to be the historical date of the foundation of Sakhalin Customs”.

In 1912 a border customs post, which controlled the shipment of goods to the mainland and to foreign countries, was founded in Chayvo Bay.

On May 16, 1925 port customs post was established in Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky.

The next reference to the customs service in Sakhalin may be found in the Order of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade of the USSR No. 60 of February 5, 1938. According to it the Far Eastern branch of the Main Customs Directorate was abolished and replaced with Vladivostok Customs, which controlled customs institutions and posts.

Korsakov Customs became the first customs body in the south of Sakhalin. It was founded in accordance with the Order No. 339 of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade of the USSR of December 17, 1945.

The customs system in Sakhalin was developed and improved over time; Sakhalin Customs today is the largest customs in the Far East, which was established in accordance with the Order of the State Customs Committee of Russia No. 245 of April 22, 1998 “On Establishment of Sakhalin Customs” as a result of reorganization and merger of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Korsakov, Kholmsk, and Nevelsk Customs. The state border between Russia and Japan passes through the La Pérouse Strait (between Sakhalin and Hokkaido), the Kunashirsky Strait (between Kunashir Island and Hokkaido) and the Sovetsky Strait (between the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge and Hokkaido).

Lit.: Становление таможенной службы на Сахалине. 1910–1925. // Сахалинская таможня. – Владивосток : ВФ РТА, 2005. – С. 5–13; История таможни [Электронный ресурс] // Федеральная таможенная служба : [сайт]. URL: http://dvtu.customs.ru/index.php?option=com_content&vie w=article&id=6144:2017-02-03-06-40-38&catid=131:2010-12-23-04-0046&Itemid=119 (14.05.2017); 10 лет Сахалинской таможне, 1998–2008 / Сахалинская таможня. Южно-Сахалинск : Сахалин. обл. тип., 2008. С. 6-7.

The material was provided by the Sakhalin Regional Universal Research Library