International Association of Customs Museums

18/02/2026

In the Federal Republic of Germany, hardly any other authority has such a wide range of activities and handles as many essential tasks like customs. After the reuni-fication, 7,500 employees of the GDR customs administration were taken over by the Federal Customs Administration. In the anniversary year, around 48,000 customs officers are in service for all of us every day throughout Germany.

The range of tasks goes far beyond the monitoring of cross-border trade in goods: German customs officers secure the tax revenue of the state they are committed to the protection of all consumers, act against cross-border organised crime and con-stantly promote social justice and the economy in Germany - also through their fight against undeclared work and illegal employment. The protection of the environment and species is also one of the main activities of customs.

The history of customs itself goes back to antiquity more than 2,000 years ago. The last 75 years in Germany and the European Union illustrate how the customs admin-istration has accepted and mastered new challenges. With the exhibition, the German Customs Museum gives an insight into these 75 years as well as into the activi-ties of German customs officers on water and land.

The exhibition was conceived as a self-explanatory traveling exhibition. 8 October 2025, the exhibition was opened in the “Postblock” of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, it is currently on display at “The headquarters of the Education and Science Center of the Federal Finance Administration” in Münster, before traveling to Cologne in March and Potsdam in June. Further exhibition venues will follow.

30/01/2026

On 26 January, IACM was proud to be present at the International Customs Day celebration at the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels.

Together with several of our member museums, we prepared a joint presentation featuring unique customs heritage objects. These were presented to interested customs officers from all over the world — including Mr. Ian Saunders, Secretary General of the WCO.

The exhibition is a great opportunity to promote the work of IACM and its members, while highlighting the rich history of customs services worldwide. It will remain on display at the WCO for six months and fits perfectly with the WCO theme for 2026: Safety — still the most important task for customs organizations in an ever-changing world.

Thank you to everyone who contributed and visited! 🌍👏

20/11/2025

We can certainly look back with satisfaction on the annual conference of the International Association of Customs/Tax Museums, which took place from 22 to 24 October 2025. ✨

It was the fourth time that the Belgian National Museum of Customs and Excise hosted our global museum association, twice as co-host together with our friends in Rotterdam. This time, we welcomed representatives from customs and tax museums in China, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Switzerland. 🌍

The delegates from the museum of the University of Customs and Finance in Dnipro, Ukraine were able to attend the General Assembly and the other meeting online. 💻 The staff of the Zollmuseum in Hamburg, Germany could not join us this year but the museum was represented by proxy at the GA. As special guests we welcomed two delegates from the Liverpool Maritime Museum. ⚓

In addition to the General Assembly and discussions about a joint exhibition, the program also included visits to the D&A-museum and the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp 🏛️, a travelling exhibition on Customs during the Austrian Netherlands (1715–1795) in Kapellen 📜 and a somewhat stormy heritage walk in the historic harbour district of Antwerp. 🌬️🚶‍♀️

15/10/2025

Distinguished visitors @ Nationaal Museum van Douane en Accijnzen

At the invitation of Administrator-General Vanderwaeren, Minister of Finance Jan Jambon visited our museum in Antwerp on October 7, accompanied by around 30 guests.

The Minister showed great interest in both the past and present of Customs and Excise — and even shared a personal connection: his maternal grandfather once served as a customs officer! 👨‍✈️

He was delighted to discover that our museum preserves his grandfather’s service record in the archives. A wonderful moment linking history, heritage, and family. 💙

14/03/2024

Hey IACM friends! 🎉 We're thrilled to announce that starting today, you can easily access the latest Rotterdam Newsletter directly from our website! 📰✨ Dive into engaging content and stay updated on all things IACM Click the link below to explore and get your copy! 👇😊

https://www.customsmuseums.org/our-association/newsletter/

Happy reading! 📚✨

29/01/2024

🎉 Join us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the International Association of Customs Museums (IACM)!

🌍 We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated Korean colleagues for their outstanding efforts in making this milestone possible.

👉 Explore our virtual exhibition showcasing three decades of customs history and achievements: https://4dart.shapespark.com/30th_iacm/

Let's continue fostering international collaboration and sharing the rich heritage of customs around the world! 🌐

Interactive 3D walkthrough

11/10/2023

Another throwback to the last IACM conference in Rotterdam, including some group pictures this time.

02/10/2023

From 27 to 29 September we were in Rotterdam for the 29th Conference & General Assembly of IACM. It was a pleasant reunion with old friends and fantastic to be able to welcome some new members into the IACM-family.

12/05/2023

It is not every day that the Belgian Customs&Excise Museum can help create a temporary exhibition in an iconic site like the Berlaymont-building in Brussels. This well known structure near the Robert Schuman roundabout houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.

The occasion was the very busy Open Day at the European Institutions on Saturday 6 May 2023 and together with our PR-colleagues we provided a number of artefacts – like a contemporary uniform and a number of seizures by Customs past and present. Incidentally, the sniffer dog in the photograph is not one of ours, but he is part of a Tulli team (Finnish Customs) as it is very appropriate on such occasions to stress the all important work of customs officers all over the EU.

16/02/2023

Busy moving and building the exhibition on the training in the Belgian Customs and Excise since 1830 to OPF Kappelen, North of Antwerp. This is an historic and appropriate location as the Dennenburg domain in Kapellen was home to the Training Center for Dutch-speaking customs officers between 1952 and 1972. The customs school for French- and German-speaking officials was located in Eupen. This exhibition will run from February 18 until March 31, 2023 in Kapellen.

10/02/2023

The first loan from the Belgian National Museum on Customs and Excise in 2023 was linked to the World Customs Day on 26 January.

A small exposition was set up at the main headquarters of the Federal Public Service Finance in Brussels. Our contribution included some objects related to drug smuggling and excise fraud past and present and a mannequin in the current uniform for a Level C customs officer.