Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of customs checks were cleared by HMRC within (a) 30 minutes, (b) one hour, (c) 90 minutes, (d) two hours and (e) three hours in each of the last 12 months.

HM Revenue and Customs use a series of risk based controls to identify consignments which should be subject to scrutiny following submission of customs declarations. This minimises delays to legitimate trade and ensures the efficient use of resources whilst effectively protecting society and tax revenue. As interventions are designed to tackle non-compliance, customs control activity is sensitive and details are not publicised.

Between March 2017 and March 2018, approximately 98% of consignments were cleared by customs within 30 minutes of being presented. Approximately 1% of the declarations were subject to further documentary scrutiny. HMRC endeavours to complete these checks within 2 hours (in the case of exportations, air traffic and roll-on roll-off ferries), and 3 hours (in the case of containerised maritime arrivals). HMRC met these targets in 96% of cases during the period.

The remaining 1% of goods were either subject to physical controls, which will have delayed clearance by over 3 hours, or did not clear due to additional complications, such as being abandoned by the trader.