INTRODUCTION

The new worldwide requirements on relationships between countries require significant changes in all activities: cultural, political and especially economic. From this point of view, it can be noticed an increase in economic relations between countries, whose peak is the formation of customs unions: associations between different countries, to eliminate customs duties on trade relations between them. In the post-war period, given that international economic interdependence has deepened, a settlement of the economic relations between states became necessary, in order to coordinate the action of the involved states, in their trade policy. Therefore, in addition to the regulation of economic relations between countries, bilateral, regional or sub-regional, it also appears a tendency of diversifying the existing foreign economic relations through agreements which attempted to codify the principles and rules regarding the use of various devices and commercial policy measures in their mutual relationships. In the organization of any state, The Customs is a complex institution, which, in addition to its primary fiscal role, it serves as an instrument to protect the national economy and, therefore indirectly, has a social role of defending the nation. Customs policy is the traditional tool for the national economy to ensure adequate protection against foreign competition, consisting in products from abroad. In some cases, customs policy aims export as well, protecting domestic consumption against an outbound trend of vital local goods or by providing facilities for imports used in export production. Unlike quantitative fences, which are administrative measures, customs policy is considered a flexible economic instrument, acting on the price of imported goods. By adding the customs duties, commodity prices are increased, leading consumers to prefer local cheaper products. On the other hand, the duty, while it is not prohibitive, enable consumers to protect themselves against excessive prices charged by local producers or against the lowering quality of indigenous goods. Thus, the consumer is free to choose between supplying himself with domestic or imported products, depending on the price and quality. Therefore, the customs duties generate complex financial effects as well as economic and trade related effects: Effect on state revenues; Effect of protecting the national economy or national interests; Effect of income redistribution between different categories of economic actors (producers, consumers, state); Effect on the country's terms of trade; Effect of competition; Effects on incomes of different social groups; Effect on the balance of payments; Effects on costs. In addition to the main purpose influence the price level of imported goods (sometimes the exported ones) customs policy also has the following goals: Supervising the implementation of regulations on financial relations with foreign partners;

Preparing periodical trade statistics on export and import; Monitoring various health and environmental regulations, and moral issues related to imported or exported goods. Opening the economy through trade liberalization has been imposed to prevent inefficiency. The temporary protection of national economic productive entities has become necessary, in order to avoid the bankruptcy of businesses that could have become profitable. The decisions making process had to be cautious because of the implications of foreign trade operations on the trade balance and balance of payments. Meanwhile, Romania's customs policy was influenced by international agreements and protocols. As a member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), tariff adjustments had to take into consideration the assessment of the member countries decisions. The growth of economic exchange with the European Union imposed internal changes, in order to comply with the Communitys customs policies. Our decisions wanted to review the import licenses, to eliminate export duties for companies, and to lower most tax rates. The collection of duties requires a very complicated system. Customs system complexity is demonstrated by the large number of customs offices and taxes paid for any goods or trade in different forms, even in the same city. So, this paper aims to analyze the optimal management of customs duties in order to increase Romania's foreign economic activity. The paper presents itself in four main parts: in the first parts are presented the theoretical aspects of customs duties and their optimal management, and the fourth presents a case study.