Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of imports from non-EU countries are inspected by (a) physical and (b) electronic means for customs purposes.

Almost all commercial importations are subject to an electronic customs declaration. Goods carried by passengers, items of post and some other low risk imports are handled by different means. Electronic declarations are subject to risk assessment which selects consignments that warrant additional control activity.

For operational reasons, details of that risk assessment and the resulting action must remain confidential. In the last 12 months, this risk based approach has ensured that less than 1% of consignments were subjected to physical inspection by Border Force for customs purposes.