(1)HMRC (or anyone acting on their behalf) may co-operate with any other customs service (whether by exchanging information or otherwise) on matters of mutual concern with a view to securing—
(a)the administration of the import duty system,
(b)the prevention or detection of evasion or other fraud relating to import duty, and
(c)the prevention, reduction or elimination of avoidance of a liability to import duty.
(2)HMRC (or anyone acting on their behalf) may co-operate with any other customs service (whether by exchanging information or otherwise) for the purposes of implementing any international obligation of the United Kingdom.
(3)A person who receives information as a result of this section—
(a)may use it only for the purposes of HMRC's customs functions or the functions of the other customs service in question, and
(b)may not further disclose it without the consent of the Commissioners (which may be general or specific).
(4)If—
(a)a person discloses information in contravention of subsection (3)(b), and
(b)the information relates to a person whose identity is specified in, or can be deduced from, the disclosure,
section 19 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (offence of wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to the disclosure as it applies in relation to a disclosure in contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.
(5)Nothing in this section authorises a disclosure of information if the disclosure would contravene the data protection legislation or would be prohibited by the investigatory powers legislation (but in determining whether a disclosure would do either of those things, the powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2) are to be taken into account).
(6)In subsection (5)—
“the data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act);
“the investigatory powers legislation” means Parts 1 to 7 and Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
(7)Nothing in this section limits the circumstances in which information may be disclosed under section 18(2) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 or under any other enactment or rule of law.
(8)In this section—
“HMRC's customs functions” and “HMRC” have the same meaning as in section 8A;
“international obligation of the United Kingdom” includes any obligation of the United Kingdom that arises under an international agreement or arrangement to which the United Kingdom is a party (whenever the United Kingdom becomes a party to it).]
Textual Amendments
F1Ss. 8A, 8B inserted (31.12.2020) by European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (c. 29), ss. 20(1), 40(7); S.I. 2020/1662, reg. 2(s)