The Main Customs House operated according to the provisions of the Customs Statute of the Dubrovnik Republic from 1277, according to the amendments that were made later as well as according to the provisions of the Senate. The Main Customs House was managed by four customs officers (divonieri) elected from the nobility, who used to be first elected by the Minor Council and later by the Major Council. Prior to its being in the Sponza Palace (which was built in 1522), the Main Customs House had been placed in another building at the same location. The Sponza Palace also provided space for different warehouses for storage of merchandise and for a mint. This institution in Sponza was the main and the only customs office in the Republic until the collapse of the Republic in 1808. Its officials were in charge to collect import, export and transit customs duties, excise duties on domestic wine, oil, fresh and salted meat, tobacco customs duties, real estate, and boat trading fees, as well as to collect duties on deposits in Italian banks, income tax on houses owned by Dubrovnik residents abroad, or duties on ships, etc. Since 1521, another very important duty of customs officers was also to manage the affairs of the city mint and since 1662, customs officers were even allowed to give short-term loans to merchants. The so-called gümrük officers, who oversaw the payment of flat rate of customs duties that had to be paid by the Ragusans to the Ottomans, also operated within the Main Customs House.