Customs union - wikipedia Customs union Part of a series on World trade Policy Import Export Balance of trade Trade law Trade pact Trade bloc Trade creation Trade diversion Export orientation Import substitution Trade finance Trade facilitation Trade route Domestic trade Tax, tariff and trade Restrictions Trade barriers Tariffs Non-tariff barriers Import quotas Tariff - rate quotas Quota share Import licenses Customs duties Export subsidies Technical barriers Bribery Exchange rate controls Embargo Safeguards Countervailing duties Anti-dumping duties Voluntary export restraints History Mercantilism Protectionism Laissez - faire Free trade Economic nationalism Economic integration Organizations International Monetary Fund International Trade Centre World Trade Organization World Customs Organization Economic integration Preferential trading area Free trade area Customs union Single market Economic union Monetary union Fiscal union Customs and monetary union Economic and monetary union Issues Intellectual property rights Smuggling Competition policy Government procurement Outsourcing Globalization Fair trade Trade justice Emissions trading Trade sanctions War Currency Trade costs Customs Trade Trade and development Lists Imports Exports Tariffs Largest consumer markets Leading trade partners By country Trade mission Trading nation United States Argentina Pakistan Romania Vietnam India Theory Comparative advantage Competitive advantage Heckscher -- Ohlin model New trade theory Economic geography Intra-industry trade Gravity model of trade Ricardian trade theories Balassa -- Samuelson effect Linder hypothesis Leontief paradox Lerner symmetry theorem Terms of trade A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas. Common competition policy is also helpful to avoid competition deficiency. Purposes for establishing a customs union normally include increasing economic efficiency and establishing closer political and cultural ties between the member countries. It is the third stage of economic integration. Customs unions are established through trade pacts. Contents 1 List of current customs unions ( indicative ) 1.1 Proposed 1.2 Defunct 2 Further reading 3 See also 4 References 5 External links List of current customs unions ( indicative ) European Union Customs Union Eurasian Customs Union East African Community West African Economic and Monetary Union Southern African Customs Union Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa Mercosur Andean Community Caribbean Community Central American Common Market Gulf Cooperation Council Switzerland -- Liechtenstein Agreement Date ( in force ) Recent reference Andean Community ( CAN ) 1988 - 05 - 25 L / 6737 Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ) 1991 - 01 - 01 Central American Common Market ( CACM ) 2004 - 10 - 06 WT / REG93 / R / B / 2 East African Community ( EAC ) 2005 - 01 - 01 WT / COMTD / N / 14 Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa ( CEMAC ) 1999 - 06 - 01 Eurasian Customs Union ( EACU ) 2010 - 07 - 01 European Union Customs Union ( EUCU ; EU -- Monaco ) 1958 ∟ EU -- Andorra Customs Union 1991 - 07 - 01 WT / REG53 / M / 3 ∟ EU -- San Marino Customs Union 2002 - 04 - 01 ∟ EU -- Turkey Customs Union 1996 - 01 - 01 WT / REG22 / M / 4 Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) 2015 - 01 - 01 Israel -- Palestinian Authority Southern Common Market ( MERCOSUR ) 1991 - 11 - 29 WT / COMTD / 1 / Add. 17 Southern African Customs Union ( SACU ) 1910 WT / REG231 / 3 Switzerland -- Liechtenstein ( CH - FL ) 1924 West African Economic and Monetary Union ( WAEMU ) 1994 - 01 - 10 WT / COMTD / N / 11 / Add. 1 Note : Every Economic union, Customs and monetary union and Economic and monetary union includes a Customs Union. Additionally the autonomous and dependent territories, such as some of the EU member state special territories, are sometimes treated as separate customs territory from their mainland state or have varying arrangements of formal or de facto customs union, common market and currency union ( or combinations thereof ) with the mainland and in regards to third countries through the trade pacts signed by the mainland state. Proposed 2010 Southern African Development Community ( SADC ) 2011 Economic Community of Central African States ( ECCAS ) 2015 Arab Customs Union ( ACU ) 2019 African Economic Community ( AEC ) 2020 Australia -- New Zealand ( Closer Economic Relations ) Defunct Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa ( UDEAC ) -- superseded by CEMAC 1925 French Customs Union over occupied Territory of the Saar Basin The former Zollverein Custom Union Between Lebanon and Syria Further reading The McGill University Faculty of Law runs a Regional Trade Agreements Database that contains the text of almost all preferential and regional trade agreements in the world. ptas.mcgill.ca Michael T. Florinsky. 1934. The Saar Struggle. New York : The Macmillan Company. See also European Customs Information Portal ( ECIP ) List of international trade topics Trade creation Trade diversion References Jump up ^ Winters, Alan L ( 1991 ). International Economics, Volume IV. Routledge. pp. 528 pages. Jump up ^ Signed 2000 - 7 - 7, but implemented in 2005. Jump up ^ Signed 1994 - 05 - 16, but implemented in 1999. Jump up ^ Customs Union of Eurasian Economic Community ( EurAsEC ) envisioned in its 1997 - 10 - 08 agreement, but not implemented. WT / REG71 / 8 Archived 5 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Agreed on 2003 - 01 - 01, WT / COMTD / N / 25 Archived 5 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` GCC countries postpone customs union move ''. Jump up ^ `` GCC customs union fully operational ''. The Peninsula. 3 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016. Jump up ^ Established following the Oslo Accords and the Paris protocol. Jump up ^ Paris Protocol. B'Tselem, 19 September 2012 Jump up ^ Iqtisadi : The Israeli - Palestinian Economic Agreement and Current Consequences. Ephraim Lavie, Moshe Dayan Center -- Tel Aviv University, January 2013 Jump up ^ latest revision is from 2004 - 07 - 15. Jump up ^ EU Overseas countries and some other territories participate partially in the EU single market per part four of the Treaty Establishing the European Community ; Some EU Outermost regions and other territories use the Euro of the currency union, others are part of the customs union ; some participate in both unions and some in neither. Territories of the United States, Australian External Territories and Realm of New Zealand territories share the currency and mostly also the market of their respective mainland state, but are generally not part of its customs territory. Jump up ^ `` Leaders set to approve Arab customs union ''. Gulf Daily News. 18 January 2009. Jump up ^ `` Australia - New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement ''. Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Jump up ^ `` Lebanon -- FOREIGN RELATIONS ''. External links Agreements Notified to the GATT / WTO and in Force Forms of economic integration Trade bloc Preferential trading area Free - trade area Economic partnership Passport - free zone Single market Economic union Customs union Monetary union Customs and monetary union Economic and monetary union Complete economic integration Shared policies Fiscal union Social union Political union Theory Economic integration effects Friction of distance Harmonisation of law Theory of the second best Regions Europe Latin America Middle East North America International trade Terminology Absolute advantage Balance of payments Balance of trade Capital account Comparative advantage Current account Export - oriented industrialization Fair trade Foreign exchange reserves Globalization Import substitution industrialization Net capital outflow Outsourcing Tariff Trade justice Trade war Trading nation Organizations and policies International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Bank Group World Trade Organization ( WTO ) International Trade Centre Bilateral investment treaty Economic integration Free - trade zone Special economic zone Trade agreement Trade barrier Trade bloc Political economy Free trade ( Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Repeal of the Corn Laws ) Mercantilism Protectionism ( Economic nationalism, Autarky ) Regional organizations ACU ASEAN CACM CAN CARICOM CEMAC CUBKR EAC EAU EU GCC Mercosur RCEP SAARC SACU WAEMU Exports by product Aircraft & Spacecraft Aircraft parts Aluminium Cars Car parts Coal Coffee Computers Copper Corn Cotton Diamonds Electricity Engines Gas turbines Gold Integrated circuits Iron ore Natural gas Oil Petrol Pharmaceuticals Ships Steel Telecommunications equipment Telephones Trucks Wheat Wine Commons NDL : 00565003 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Customs_union&oldid=801342801 '' Categories : Customs unions Economic integration Trade policy Trade blocs Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use dmy dates from May 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Қазақша Latina Lëtzebuergesch Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Basa Sunda Suomi Svenska Татарча / tatarça Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 19 September 2017, at 03 : 11. 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Question: what was the purpose of a customs union
Answer: increasing economic efficiency