Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the average length of time in hours between HMRC (a) seizing a container for examination under suspicion of the value declared of goods contained being too low and making a decision on enforcement action and (b) seizing a container for examination under suspicion of the value declared of goods contained being too low and the return of the container.

In any individual case the time between intercepting a consignment, HMRC’s compliance decision and the return of the container will be affected by factors outside HMRC’s control. This includes a period of up to 30 days where the importer has the right to present further evidence before HMRC makes its decision. Due to the range of possible outcomes of HMRC’s examination activity HMRC does not routinely capture information on average times taken.