1.Section 227 increases the level of financial penalties that can be imposed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) under section 143 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA). Section 143 applies to ships of 250 tons register and over, where a responsible officer has been complicit or negligent in respect of customs or excise offences committed on board their ship.
2.Subsection (1) provides that section 143 of CEMA (penalty in lieu of forfeiture of larger ships where responsible officer is implicated in offence) is amended.
3.Subsection (2) removes the Commissioner’s power to impose a fine up to £50.
4.Subsection (3) increases the maximum penalty that a court can impose on ships involved in revenue offences from £500 to £10,000.
5.Subsection (4) increases the deposit the Commissioners may require whilst a ship is detained pending proceedings to a maximum of £10,000.
6.Subsection (5) amends the definition of responsible officer in section 143 to add bosuns, remove ‘the serang’ and ensure that persons ‘acting as’ any of the listed persons are included.
7.Subsection (6) enables the amount of the penalty (and deposit) to be altered, by statutory instrument, if there is a change in the value of money.
8.The maximum level of the penalties has been the same since 1952 and their value has been eroded by inflation.