The Bulgarian customs administration is a centralized administrative structure, organized within National Customs Agency (NCA) under the Minister of Finance.
NCA is structured in a Central Customs Directorate and customs offices. The customs office is structured in territorial customs offices with inland customs offices and border customs posts under their responsibility.
There are no particular provisions in the Customs Act concerning illegal traffic of cultural goods as far as the cultural goods are subject of commercial policy measures applied by the customs authorities. In this respect according to the Customs Act the customs authorities shall:
- perform customs supervision and control on goods, vehicles and persons in the zones of the border checkpoints and throughout the state's customs territory;
- enforce, within their competence, the tariff and commercial policy measures;
- conduct customs intelligence for combating customs and currency violations;
- perform activities related to establishing administrative violations and imposition of administrative sanctions.
While performing their professional duties customs officers are entitled:
- to conduct inspections related to customs supervision and control of goods, vehicles and persons in the zones of border checkpoints and throughout the customs territory of the country;
- to undertake the necessary measures, allowed by law, for performing customs control;
- to require the presentation or delivery of goods, documents and data related to customs supervision and control;
- to require presentation of personal identification documents;
- to require written or oral explanations;
- to perform post-clearance customs control of goods and documents related to importation, exportation and transit of goods;
- to carry out individual searches of persons crossing the state border;
- to conduct searches and seize goods that have been or should have been subject to customs supervision and control and related documentation in offices, official and other premises, as well as personal searches of the persons located therein, in compliance with the procedures of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The customs authorities shall examine, establish and sanction each violation or attempt for violation of the provisions of the customs legislation insofar as the action is not a criminal offence.
