Customs Act 1901

This section applies if an authority to deal with goods is suspended under subsection 114CA(1) in order to verify particulars of the goods shown in the export declaration made in respect of the goods.

If an officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that the owner of the goods has custody or control of commercial documents relating to the goods, or has or can obtain information relating to the goods, that will assist the officer to verify those particulars, the officer may require the owner:

to deliver to the officer the commercial documents relating to the goods that are in the owner’s custody or control (including any such documents that had previously been delivered to an officer and had been returned to the owner); or

to deliver to the officer such specified information, in writing, relating to the goods as is within the knowledge of the owner or as the owner is reasonably able to obtain.

A documentary requirement for the delivery of documents or information relating to the goods must:

be communicated to the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the export declaration was communicated; and

be in an approved form and contain such particulars as the form requires.

An electronic requirement for the delivery of documents or information relating to the goods must:

be sent electronically to the person who made the export declaration; and

communicate such particulars as are set out in an approved statement.

An officer may ask:

the owner of the goods; and

if another person made the export declaration on behalf of the owner—the other person;

An officer may require the owner of the goods to verify the particulars shown in the export declaration by making a declaration or producing documents.

Subject to section 215, if a person delivers a commercial document to an officer under this section, the officer must deal with the document and then return it to that person.