Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have a mechanism to compare the import declarations for goods that arrive in the UK against the export declarations submitted in the country of origin; and if not, how they assess that (1) the declarations, and (2) the goods, have not been altered in transit.

Customs declarations must be submitted electronically into HMRC's systems when goods are imported or exported and once accepted by HMRC can only be altered in specific circumstances, and there is a record of such changes.

HMRC operates a risk-based model for customs compliance. This means that our compliance responses and interventions are targeted and proportionate to the potential risk of fraud and non-compliance a consignment or a trader may represent.

At the Border, a risk-based, intelligence led approach is taken to tackle the highest and most significant risks pre-clearance.

HMRC, supported by a range of bilateral and multilateral frameworks, cooperates with international partners to identify non-compliance including the sharing of intelligence, conducting joint investigations and the comparison of declarations submitted when appropriate.