/ Customs Civil Penalties
Warning letter
For the attention of
Name of Appointed Rep of Company
Address as listed on DTR or EF
Cc Your Point of contact for the Audit if different from the App Rep of Company / TURN/EORI
Warning Letter ref / CCP
Date of issue
Reason code* / 231
Caseflow reference / ???????????
Type of contravention / Poor Compliance Serious errorDeficiencies in SystemsFailure to Produce

You have failed to comply with your legal requirements as detailed below.

Description of contravention(s)

I undertook an International Trade Audit of your company’s records on 11th August 2014 which covered the period from 01/11/2011 to 30/06/2013. I found that there are serious deficiencies in the systems your company has in place for managing your International Trade activity effectively. My examination of your records identifed that your company was not able to produce evidence to support the use of the customs procedure used at point of Import and was unable to explain the discrepancies identified. ( See enclosed schedule )
This is contrary to Article 16 of Council Regulation 2913/92/EEC and Regulations 3 to 5 and 9 of the Customs Traders (Accounts & Records) Regulation 1995. As the Importer /declarant you have an obligation to keep, preserve and maintain information, records and documents relating to your International Trade activity and make these available upon request.

In accordance with the Regulations 2003 as amended you are liable to a penalty of up to £

On this occasion, the Commissioners of Revenue & Customs have decided not to charge a penalty.

However, if within the next two years you again fail to keep, preserve and maintain information, records and documents in relation to your International Trade activity and fail to make these available upon request you may not be given the same concession and a penalty may be applied without further warning.

You can find information on Customs Civil Penalties in Notice 301. If you require any further information or assistance please contact me on the phone number or at the address given below.

If you do not agree with this decision to issue this warning letter there are three options available. Within 30 days of the date of this letter you can either:

·  send further information or evidence to me at the address below

·  request a review of the decision by someone not involved in making the disputed decision. Your request must be in writing and should set out the reasons why you do not agree with the decision. Please write to: Customs and International Review and Appeals Team, 7th Floor South West, Alexander House,
21 Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS99 1AA or

·  appeal direct to the Tribunal who are independent of HMRC.

If you opt to have your case reviewed you will still be able to appeal to the Tribunal if you disagree with the outcome. Further information about reviews and appeals is available from the HMRC website www.hmrc.gov.uk/dealingwith/appeals.htm A fact sheet on reviews and appeals, HMRC1, can be obtained from www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheets/hmrc1.pdf You can find out more about tribunals from the Tribunals website www.tribunals.gov.uk/tax/ or you can contact them on 0845 223 8080.

Issuing officer’s name / Issuing officer’s address
HM Revenue & Customs
Contact number
03000
Signature

*Reason codes and penalty rates can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk by entering 'schedules of contraventions' in the search facility.


Schedule of Contraventions

Warning letter reference and date of issue / CCP 14 / ???? ( Issued October 2014 )
Issuing Officer
Company name
TURN/EORI
Details
As a result of the findings of a recent International Trade Audit in August of 2014 , Customs Civil Penalty Action was deemed appropriate.
My examination of a sample of your Customs Declarations (10 declarations) and the associated information and records covering the period from November 2011 to June 2013 identified that your company has failed to keep, preserve and maintain information and records in relation to your International Trade activity. ( Your company was unable to produce the paperwork for 4 out of the 10 declarations I examined and were unable to provide an explanation of the discrepancies identified ) Your company manufacture and supply specialist Plant Machinery for excavation work; you either sell, hire or lease this equipment to various companies throughout the world. In returning goods to the UK which had been out on hire or lease, you declared the goods to the Returned Goods Relief Regime. However, you have been unable to produce the original Export paperwork for some of these goods to evidence that they are of Free Circulation status and as such meet the conditions of the Returned Goods Relief Regime. In addition to this, the information provided on one of the declarations, did not match the detail of the information declared on the Manifest with regards the actual quantity of goods re-imported. The Manifest showed 2 Hi Mac Excavation Drills valued at £80,000.00, whereas the Customs Declaration showed 1 Hi Mac Excavation Drill valued at £80,000.00. You have advised that due to limited staff resources, it has been difficult to keep on top of your International Trade paperwork.
A more detailed overview of the findings of my Audit and the customs charges due has been issued under separate cover as per my post visit letter and C18 Demand Notice issued on 26th October 2014
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Remedial Action
1. Your company needs to take all reasonable steps to ensure the information declared to customs authorities is accurate in all respects. You must provide your clearance agent with clear written instructions in respect of how your goods are to be declared to Customs Authorities when they are preparing and submitting Declarations to Customs Authorities on your company's behalf.
2. Obtain copies of all customs declarations which have been submitted/ presented to Customs Authorities on your company's behalf by your Clearance Agent, Freight forwarder or Courier.
3. Revise the existing Management assurance systems your company has in place, to ensure that in future, your company retains all information and records in relation to your Imports and Exports. You must be able to produce these records to facilitate a verification or assurance check by an Officer of HMRC or an officer from Border Force acting on behalf of Customs Authorities / HMRC.
4. In conjunction with all of the above, your company needs to develop a system of regular cross reference checks, whereby the customs declarations completed on your behalf, are checked against the original order and supporting documentation, Manifest, Shipping bill/ Airway bill etc. to ensure the information that has been declared to Customs Authorities, is accurate in all respects and complies with customs procedure.
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On this occasion your company has received a warning letter, however please be advised that if your company again fails, to keep, preserve and maintain information and records in relation to your International Trade activity and fail to make these available upon request; Customs Civil Penalty action will be progressed and you may be liable to a financial customs civil penalty, subject to the maximum of £ 1,000.00 per contravention.

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