The administrative power exercised by Customs for inspection and its relationship with other powers

Customs inspection, as one of the administrative law enforcement actions, not only reflects the binding force of the state’s will and the execution of legal norms, but also helps to enhance the credibility and execution of customs law enforcement. The administrative power of verification mainly includes six aspects: the right of access and copying; the right of inspection and inspection; the right of inquiry; the right of sampling and sampling; the right of account inquiry; and the right of seizure and seizure.

Six administrative powers of customs inspection

Inspection and copying rights

Inspectors have the right to inspect and copy the contracts, invoices, account books, documents, records, documents, business correspondence, audio and video recordings and other materials of the person being inspected.

Inspection rights

Inspectors can enter the production and operation sites and goods storage places of the person being inspected, and inspect the production and operation conditions and goods related to import and export activities.

Right of inquiry

Inspectors have the right to ask the legal representative, principal person in charge and other relevant personnel of the person being inspected about the situation and issues related to import and export activities.

Sampling, sampling rights

Inspectors can take a small number of samples from imported and exported goods and submit them to relevant business functional departments or professional institutions for inspection and testing.

Account inquiry rights

Inspection personnel have the right to inquire about the fund transactions of accounts opened by the persons being verified in banks or other financial institutions.

Right of seizure and seizure

When the person being inspected may transfer, conceal, tamper with, or destroy accounting books, documents and other relevant information, or the imported and exported goods are suspected of violating the Customs Law and other relevant laws and regulations, the inspectors have the right to seal up and detain the above information and goods.

Verification of relationship with other customs authorities

Customs audit work aims to realize the supervision concept of “from enterprises to things”, focusing on enterprises as supervision units, and combining the supervision time division standards of “before, during and after the event” to clarify the division of responsibilities and achieve misaligned supervision and coordination. supervision. For on-site supervision of customs clearance, supervision of goods and articles entering and exiting through mail channels, etc., if other customs departments have achieved the purpose of supervision through inspections and inspections, there is no need for further verification through post-inspection verification.

The relationship between verification and audit

Verification and inspection are both within the scope of the customs inspection department and are important methods of follow-up supervision by the customs. Although their working methods and means are similar, there are differences in the specific implementation process:

• Superior legal basis: The superordinate laws based on verification include the Customs Law, the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law, the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, etc., which cover a wide range of areas.
• Scope of responsibilities: Verification covers import and export customs clearance, animal and plant quarantine, commodity inspection and other fields, while audit focuses more on overall inspection matters.
• Inspection items: Verification usually focuses on a specific risk point, while audit involves a wider time span and lead expansion.

Verification and auditing complement each other, and clues to problems discovered during verification can be further transformed into audit actions.

The relationship between verification and investigation

Although verification and investigation are closely connected, they are also fundamentally different. Verification is the preliminary collection stage of clues about smuggling violations, while investigation is an investigative activity carried out in criminal cases and involves criminal proceedings. From the perspective of legal attributes, investigation has stronger coercive measures such as searches, freezing of deposits, etc.

Suspected violations or smuggling behaviors discovered by the customs inspection department during the verification process will be handed over to the anti-smuggling department as clues. The anti-smuggling department will conduct a preliminary investigation of the clues, determine whether their nature constitutes a crime, and decide whether to initiate formal investigation procedures.

Through the above analysis, it can be seen that customs inspection is not only an important means to ensure the implementation of the law, but also forms an organic link with other customs powers to jointly maintain the country’s economic security and social order.