Customs Act 1901

PART XII - OFFICERS  

Division 1 - Powers of officers  

Subdivision B - General regulatory powers  

SECTION 196C   POWER TO QUESTION PERSONS CLAIMING PACKAGES  

196C(1)   [Customs officer may require information]  

Before an officer of Customs decides whether or not to authorise the delivery into home consumption of goods referred to in section 71, the officer may:

(a) request the person to state his or her full name and residential address; and

(b) ask the person whether he or she is the owner of the goods; and

(c) where the person states that he or she is not the owner of the goods, request the person to state the full name and residential address of the owner of the goods; and

(d) request the person to produce evidence of the correctness of the information given by him or her in compliance with a request made of him or her in pursuance of paragraph (a) or (c).

196C(2)   [Failure to comply an offence]  

A person shall not refuse or fail to comply with a request made of him or her, or to answer a question put to him or her, in pursuance of subsection (1).

Penalty: 10 penalty units.

196C(2A)   [Reasonable excuse]  

Subsection (2) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.

196C(3)   [Customs officer may detain person]  

Where a person refuses or fails to comply with a request made of him or her, or to answer a question put to him or her, by an officer of Customs in pursuance of subsection (1), the officer may:

(a) detain the person for the purposes of establishing his or her identity; or

(b) if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that there is no reasonable excuse for the person refusing or failing to so comply, detain the person and take him or her, without undue delay, before a Magistrate to be charged with an offence against subsection (2).

196C(4)   [Meaning of ``owner'']  

In this section, ``owner'', in relation to goods, means a person who has an interest in the goods.