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Power to board and search conveyances
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27. (1) An officer of customs, on production of the authorisation of that officer, if so requested by any person affected, and any officer accompanying such officer, may, at any time and in such manner as the officer considers appropriate, subject to subsection (2), enter or board any conveyance that—
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(a) is entering or has entered the State,
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(b) is leaving the State,
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(c) is in the contiguous zone of the State, or
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(d) is at any other place in the State,
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and remain on that conveyance for such period as is necessary for the purposes of subsection (3).
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(2) The power specified in—
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(a) subsection (1)(a) in respect of a conveyance that is entering or has entered the State from another Member State,
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(b) subsection (1)(b) in respect of a conveyance that is leaving the State destined for another Member State, or
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(c) subsection (1)(d),
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shall only be exercised where the officer concerned has reasonable grounds to suspect that the conveyance or any goods carried on it are—
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(i) chargeable with a duty of customs which has not been paid or secured,
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(ii) being or have been imported, or are intended to be exported, contrary to any prohibition or restriction on their importation or exportation, as the case may be,
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(iii) records relating to transactions in contravention of the Customs Acts, or
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(iv) otherwise liable to forfeiture under the Customs Acts.
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(3) An officer of customs who stops, enters or boards a conveyance mentioned in subsection (1) may—
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(a) examine that conveyance,
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(b) search the conveyance and examine any goods on or in it as appear to him or her to be necessary to establish whether anything on or in the conveyance or in any manner attached to the conveyance is liable to forfeiture under the Customs Acts,
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(c) examine any records found on or in the conveyance and take copies of, or extracts from, any such records,
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(d) remove and retain those records for such period as may be reasonable for further examination,
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(e) take a sample of any goods on or in the conveyance,
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(f) cause any goods to be marked before they are loaded onto or unloaded from that conveyance,
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(g) lock up, seal, mark or otherwise secure any goods carried on or in the conveyance,
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(h) break open any place or receptacle, which is locked and of which the keys are withheld,
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(i) question the person in charge of the conveyance in relation to the conveyance or any goods on it, in it, or in any manner attached to it, and require that person, within such time and in such form or manner as may be specified by the officer—
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(i) to give all information in relation to the conveyance and goods, and
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(ii) to produce and permit the inspection of and the taking of copies of, or extracts from, all records relating to the conveyance and any such goods,
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as may reasonably be required by the officer and which is in the possession or procurement of such person,
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(j) seize and detain any goods found in the course of a search under this section, which are liable to forfeiture under the Customs Acts or which may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under the Customs Acts or any other enactment.
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(4) An officer of customs may require any person in control of a conveyance which is being searched under subsection (3), and any person travelling on that conveyance, not to remove any goods from the conveyance and to remain with the conveyance for the duration of the search.
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