Identification of the Essence and General Principles of Customs Control

International trade is one of the most important assets of modern economic relations, but its development depends on many factors, including the level of awareness of trends in customs development. Globalization processes have opened up several advantages and prospects for the development of the economies of many countries, however, at the same time, have created a number of threats that customs control is designed to prevent. It is possible to fulfil the current tasks facing customs control only with the intensification of scientific research, including disclosure of the polymorphic essence of customs control, as well as the definition of its principles. The purpose of the article is to develop theoretical and praxeological components of customs control in terms of clarifying its essence and defining its principles. The methodological basis of the study is the dialectical method, logical-semantic method, and the method of transition from abstract to concrete knowledge of the essence and clarification of the concepts of “customs control” and “principle of customs control”; methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalization are used to systematize the principles of customs control as a polymorphic phenomenon and to clarify their content. According to the results of the research, the polymorphic essence of customs control is determined, in particular, customs control is described as a system of scientific knowledge, as a theory that forms the basis of the discipline, within which the necessary professional competencies are formed, and as a type of practical activity regulated by the norms of customs legislation. The defined approach, as well as the analysis of existing regulations and theoretical developments in terms of defining the principles of customs control, allowed to identify the latter in terms of content as a system of scientific knowledge, as a practical activity and lay the foundation for further evaluation of customs control.