(1)Section 139 of CEMA 1979 (provisions as to detention, seizure and condemnation of goods etc) is amended as follows.
(2)After subsection (1) insert—
“(1A)A person mentioned in subsection (1) who reasonably suspects that any thing may be liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts may detain that thing.
(1B)References in this section and Schedule 2A to a thing detained as liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts include a thing detained under subsection (1A).”
(3)In subsection (2), for the words from “either” to the end substitute “ deliver that thing to an officer ”.
(4)In subsection (4), for “the Commissioners at the nearest office of customs and excise” substitute “ an officer ”.
(5)In subsection (5), for “Schedule 3” substitute “ Schedules 2A and 3 ”.
(6)After that subsection insert—
“(5A)Schedule 2A contains supplementary provisions relating to the detention of things as liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts.”
(7)After Schedule 2 to that Act (composite goods: supplementary provisions as to excise duties and drawbacks) insert—
Section 139(5A)
1In this Schedule, references (however expressed) to a thing being detained are references to a thing being detained as liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts.
2(1)This paragraph applies where a thing is detained.
(2)The thing may be detained for 30 days beginning with the day on which the thing is first detained.
(3)The thing is deemed to be seized as liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts if its detention ceases to be authorised under this paragraph.
3(1)The Commissioners must take reasonable steps to give written notice of the detention of any thing, and of the grounds for the detention, to any person who to their knowledge was, at the time of the detention, the owner or one of the owners of the thing.
(2)But notice need not be given under sub-paragraph (1) if the detention occurred in the presence of—
(a)the person whose offence or suspected offence occasioned the detention,
(b)the owner or any of the owners of the thing detained or any servant or agent of such an owner, or
(c)in the case of any thing detained on a ship or aircraft, the master or commander.
4(1)This paragraph applies where a thing is detained and, with the agreement of a person within sub-paragraph (2) (“the responsible person”), the thing remains at the place where it is first detained (rather than being removed and detained elsewhere).
(2)A person is within this sub-paragraph if the person is—
(a)the owner or any of the owners of the thing at the time it was detained or any servant or agent of such an owner, or
(b)a person whom the person who detains the thing reasonably believes to be a person within paragraph (a).
(3)If the responsible person fails to prevent the unauthorised removal or disposal of the thing from the place where it is detained, that failure attracts a penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 (civil penalties).
(4)The removal or disposal of the thing is unauthorised unless it is done with the permission of a proper officer of Revenue and Customs.
(5)Where any duty of excise is payable in respect of the thing—
(a)the penalty is to be calculated by reference to the amount of that duty (whether it has been paid or not), and
(b)section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 has effect as if in subsection (2)(a) the words “5 per cent of” were omitted.
(6)If no duty of excise is payable in respect of the thing, that section has effect as if the penalty provided for by subsection (2)(b) of that section were whichever is the greater of—
(a)the value of the thing at the time it was first detained, or
(b)£250.
5(1)This paragraph applies where—
(a)a thing is detained at a revenue trader's premises,
(b)the thing is liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts, and
(c)without the permission of a proper officer of Revenue and Customs, the thing is removed from the trader's premises, or otherwise disposed of, by any person.
(2)The Commissioners may seize, as liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts, goods of equivalent value to the thing, from the revenue trader's stock.
(3)For the purposes of this paragraph, a revenue trader's premises include any premises used to hold or store anything for the purposes of the revenue trader's trade, regardless of who owns or occupies the premises.”
(8)The amendments made by this section have effect in relation to things detained on or after the day on which this Act is passed.