An authorised person, if it appears to him necessary for the protection of the revenue against mistake or fraud, may at any time take, from the goods in the possession of any person who supplies goods or acquires goods from another member State F1, or in thepossession of a fiscal warehousekeeper, such samples as the authorised person may require with a view to determining how the goods or the materials of which they are made ought to be or to have been treated for the purposes of VAT.

Any sample taken under this paragraph shall be disposed of and accounted for in such manner as the Commissioners may direct.

Where a sample is taken under this paragraph from the goods in any person’s possession and is not returned to him within a reasonable time and in good condition the Commissioners shall pay him by way of compensation a sum equal to the cost of the sample to him or such larger sum as they may determine.