»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp

THIS GUIDANCE IS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE OFFICERS ONLY

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp Authorising officer is the Compliance manager.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp authorising officer will authorise the issue of the penalty by completing the bottom of the Customs Penalty Action Checklist (CPAC).

Before authorising a penalty the authorising officer should:

• Check that they have received all of the relevant paperwork

• Decision-making template
• CPRAF
• Completed Penalty Notice
• All supporting documents

• Check that the Penalty is accurate in all respects

• Have the correct trader particulars been included
• Has the correct legislation been applied
• Do you agree that the information recorded on the decision making sheet confirms that penalty action is the best course of action to improve compliance
• Have you checked that when deciding the level of penalty, the officer has taken account of the circumstances surrounding the contravention
• Have they established whether there was either a reasonable excuse or mitigating factors that they should have considered
• Have they identified if the trader has taken or is in the process of taking remedial action to improve compliance
• Have they incorporated RTBH into their decision to issue penalty

All of these factors must be considered to ensure we have a consistent approach to charging penalties. Remember the penalty must be both reasonable and proportionate to both the volume and circumstances surrounding the contraventions.