# Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, Section 163: Power to search vehicles ...

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) Without prejudice to any other power conferred by the Customs and Excise Acts 1979 or Part 1 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that any vehicle ... is or may be carrying any goods which are—
(a) chargeable with any duty which has not been paid or secured; or
(b) in the course of being unlawfully removed from or to any place; or
(c) otherwise liable to forfeiture under the customs and excise Acts,
any officer or constable or member of Her Majesty’s armed forces or coastguard may stop and search that vehicle ....
(1A) The officer, constable or member may use reasonable force if necessary for the purpose of exercising the power in subsection (1).
(2) If when so required by any such officer, constable or member the person in charge of any such vehicle ... refuses to stop or to permit the vehicle ... to be searched, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) ... The power to stop and search in subsection (1) above shall not be available in respect of aircraft which are airborne.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/2/section/163 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/customs-and-excise-management-act-1979/section-163
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.