Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of HMRC’s capacity to monitor the importation of goods from (a) countries and (b) territories subject to (i) arms embargoes, (ii) trade sanctions and (iii) other trade restrictions.

HMRC operates a risk-based model for customs compliance which is designed to support the flow of compliant international trade, while maintaining effective controls to collect revenue, protect the UK economy and wider society from harm and uphold the UK’s reputation as a trusted trading partner.

Imported and exported goods must be declared to HMRC and are subject to risk-based controls and verification. There are additional controls and restrictions on goods imported from and exported to certain countries, including those subject to arms embargoes and sanctions.

The controls and verification are tailored to the underlying risks but may include physical examinations of goods at the time of import or export and/or documentary checks.

HMRC collects the UK’s international trade in goods data and publishes this as two accredited official statistics series on gov.uk.