Customs Act 1901

PART XIIA - SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PROHIBITED ITEMS  

SECTION 227F   OFFICER MAY TAKE CUSTODY OF ITEMS  

227F(1)    

If:

(a) this Part applies to a prohibited item on board a ship or aircraft; and

(b) no approval under section 227E is in force in relation to a place on board that ship or aircraft as the place for storing that item;

an officer must take custody of that item.

227F(2)    

Within 48 hours after taking custody of the item, an officer must give a written notice to the operator of the ship or aircraft under this section.

227F(3)    
The notice must be in an approved form.

227F(4)    

Without limiting subsection (3), the notice must identify the prohibited item concerned.

227F(5)    

The Comptroller-General of Customs must ensure that an item taken into custody under this section is:

(a) securely stored while it is in custody under this section; and

(b) returned to the operator of the ship or aircraft concerned:

(i) if subparagraph (ii) does not apply - when the ship is at its last port of call in Australia, or when the aircraft is at its last airport of call in Australia, and after a Certificate of Clearance referred to in section 118 has been granted in relation to the departure of that ship from that port, or the departure of the aircraft from that airport (as the case requires); or

(ii) when this Part ceases to apply to the ship or aircraft because it is taken to have been imported into Australia under subsection 49A(7) .

227F(6)    

To avoid doubt, subsection (5) does not affect the power of an officer to seize or otherwise deal with the item under this Act (including provisions in this Act relating to prohibited goods) when this Part ceases to apply to the ship or aircraft concerned.

227F(7)    

After an item is returned to the operator under subsection (5) and before the ship or aircraft leaves Australia, the operator concerned must comply with any conditions specified by the Comptroller-General of Customs in relation to the storage of that item.