Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

61 Provisions as to stores

(1) The Commissioners may give directions—

(a) as to the quantity of any goods which may be carried in any ship or aircraft as stores for use on a voyage or flight to an eventual destination outside the United Kingdom;

(b) as to the authorisation to be obtained for the supply arid carriage of, and the procedure to be followed in supplying, any goods as stores for use as mentioned in paragraph (a) above, whether or not any duty is chargeable or has been paid, or any drawback is payable, in respect of those goods.

(2) Save as provided in subsection (3) below and in section 18 of the [1979 c. 5.] Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (relief for fuel for ships in home waters) and notwithstanding anything in the customs and excise Acts, goods shall not be permitted to be shipped as stores without payment of duty or on drawback except in a ship of not less than 40 tons register or in an aircraft departing for a voyage or flight to some place outside the United Kingdom.

(3) The Commissioners may, in such cases and subject to such conditions and restrictions as they see fit, permit goods to be shipped as mentioned in subsection (2) above in any ship of less than 40 tons register which is departing for a place or area outside the United Kingdom.

(4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3) above, all hovercraft (of whatever size) shall be treated as ships of less than 40 tons register.

(5) If any goods shipped or carried as stores for use on a voyage or flight to an eventual destination outside the United Kingdom are without the authority of the proper officer landed or unloaded at any place in the United Kingdom—

(a) the goods shall be liable to forfeiture ; and

(b) the master or commander and the owner of the ship or aircraft shall each be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of three times the value of the goods or £100, whichever is the greater.

(6) The proper officer may lock up, mark, seal or otherwise secure any goods entered, shipped or carried as stores for use as mentioned in subsection (5) above or any place or container in which such goods are kept or held.

(7) If any ship or aircraft which has departed from any port or customs and excise airport for a destination outside the United Kingdom carrying stores fails to reach the destination for which it was cleared outwards and returns to any place within the United Kingdom, then—

(a) if the failure was not due to stress of weather, mechanical defect or any other unavoidable cause and any deficiency is discovered in the said goods ; or

(b) if the failure was due to any such cause as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above and any deficiency is discovered in the said goods which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, exceeds the quantity which might fairly have been consumed having regard to the length of time between the ship's or aircraft's departure and return as aforesaid,

the master of the ship or the commander of the aircraft shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of £50, and shall also pay on the deficiency or, as the case may be, on the excess deficiency any duty chargeable on the importation of such goods.

(8) Any duty payable under subsection (7) above shall be recoverable summarily as a civil debt.