Article 5

A FLEGT licence covering each shipment shall be available to the competent authority at the same time as the customs declaration for that shipment is presented for release for free circulation in F1Great Britain. The F2competent authority shall keep a record — in electronic or paper format — of the original FLEGT licence together with the corresponding customs declaration.

Import of timber products under a FLEGT licence issued to a market participant shall be accepted as long as the market participant’s licence remains valid.

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The F4competent authority shall grant to the persons or bodies designated by partner countries as being responsible for the third party monitoring of the FLEGT licensing scheme access to the relevant documents and data, but the competent authority shall not be required to provide any information which F5it is not permitted to communicate pursuant to F6any enactment or rule of law.

The F7competent authority shall decide on the need for further verification of shipments using a risk-based approach.

In case of doubt as to the validity of the licence, the F8competent authority may ask the licensing authorities for additional verification and seek further clarification, as set out in the Partnership Agreement with the exporting partner country.

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Customs authorities may suspend the release of or detain timber products where they have reason to believe that the licence may not be valid. Costs incurred while the verification is completed shall be at the expense of the importer, except where the F10Secretary of State determines otherwise.

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The Secretary of State may, by regulations, make provision—