The article is devoted to the problem of choosing the optimal system of customs regulation of foreign trade relations, which are essential to effectively build those relations and, as a result, achieve the economic and social wellbeing of any country. The study of this issue on the materials of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century deserves special attention, as the economic policy of modern Russia actualizes the ideas that were characteristic of the reign of Alexander I, aimed at maximizing the advantages of the geopolitical situation of the country between Europe and Asia, its transit potential, and the priority development of relations with Asian partners. The territory of Transcaucasia, especially its Caspian part, with entry into the Russian Empire began to play a special role in the implementation of these ideas. A retrospective analysis of regional experience in the use of such an important regulator of foreign trade as the customs tariff is of particular interest in this regard. The scientific novelty of the work is that this issue was studied on the materials of records management of the Baku Customs - the first of the customs institutions established in the Transcaucasia, in which the Russian customs taxation system in its Astrakhan version of 1754 was tested. The features and the first results of the functioning of this system in the new conditions are shown, the prerequisites and circumstances of its revision by the government at the end of the Russian-Persian war of 1804-1813 are described.
