Uk Customs Control

If you travel to the UK by air, you will probably arrive at one of London’s main international airports, Heathrow or Gatwick; or one of the big regional airports, such as Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Glasgow. Some airports are large and have several terminals, and you will need to follow signs to find your way out. If you travel by sea you will probably arrive at one of the Channel Ports – Dover, Folkestone or Harwich are the most likely. It is also possible to arrive in London on the Eurostar train, which travels through the Channel Tunnel, or to bring a car through the Tunnel on a shuttle train. Please note that if you travel by Eurostar, you will go through UK Immigration Control in France before you board the Eurostar.

If you arrive at an airport, you pass through immigration control first (before collecting your luggage). There are usually two main queues: one for European Economic Area and Swiss nationals, and one for everyone else. Make sure you join the correct queue. An Immigration Officer will look at your passport and check your Visa/Entry Clearance. Please note an important recent change: if you have a Tier 4 Entry Clearance/Visa and the Immigration Officer interviews you, they can refuse you entry to the UK if they are not satisfied that your level of English Language is adequate, for example if they consider that you are unable to answer simple questions in English.

You should also have your documents relating to your studies (letter from your university/college/school) and finances in your hand baggage. Before leaving Immigration Control, check that the Immigration Officer has put a date stamp (if you had a Visa or Entry Clearance) in your passport; or (if you are a non-Visa national coming for a course of less than six months) check that you have been stamped in as a “Student Visitor”. After immigration control, you will be able to collect your luggage. At most airports baggage is unloaded on to one of a number of moving belts in the baggage collection area. Look for your flight number and the name of the place your flight departed from on the screens or above the moving belts carousels and wait for each item of your baggage to appear. If any item does not come through, find a representative of the airline you travelled on and fill in a lost baggage form.

When you have found all your luggage you must pass through Customs control. Join the queue for either the green channel if you have nothing to declare, the red channel if you have goods to declare, or the blue channel if you have arrived from an airport within the European Economic Area (EEA) where you have already cleared all your luggage through customs control.

If you are traveling to the UK from a country outside the European Union and are carrying 10,000 Euros or more in cash, bankers draft or cheque of any kind (about £6,750 in pounds sterling or the equivalent in other currencies) you will be required to declare this at customs.

Forms on which to make the declaration will be available when you arrive and you will be given a copy of the completed form, which you should keep safely as evidence that you have made a declaration. Please note that a penalty of up to £5,000 can be imposed if you do not make this declaration or provide incorrect or incomplete information.

If you are carrying more than the permitted duty or tax free allowances, or any prohibited goods (e.g. drugs, offensive weapons, food or plants from outside the European Union, etc) you must pass through the red channel.

If you are not sure about what you can bring into the UK you should check with the British Embassy or High Commission in your home country before travelling to the UK.

Exercise 9. Choose the right answer.

1. If you travel to the UK by air, where will you probably arrive?

a) in Manchester or Liverpool;

b) in Edinburgh or Belfast;

c) at one of London’s main international or one of the big regional airports;

d) in London.

2. Where will you go through UK Immigration Control if you travel by Eurostar?

a) in France; b) in Germany; c) in the UK; d) in Belgium.

3. What do people do when they arrive at the airport?

a) find their luggage; b) pass through Customs control;

c) fill in the declaration form; d) pass through immigration control.

4. What does an Immigration Officer do?

a) looks through your passport; b) checks your visa;

c) looks through your passport and checks your visa; d) weighs your luggage.

5. Where can you find your luggage?

a) in a police station; b) on a moving belt;

c) at a luggage space; d) at a taxi station.

6. What Channel does not exist?

a) red; b) blue; c) white; d) green.

7. What sum of money is it necessary to declare?

a) 10,000 Dollars or more in cash; b) 10,000 Pounds or more in cash;

c) 10,000 Rubles or more in cash; d) 10,000 Euros or more in cash.

8. Why is it necessary to take a copy of the declaration of the completed form?

a) It serves as evidence that you have made a declaration;

b) You won’t be able to leave the country without it;

c) It is necessary to show it to police officers;

d) You will be able to make purchases at tax free shops if you have a copy.

9. What goods are not prohibited?

a) drugs, offensive weapons; b) clothes;

c) food or plants from outside the European Union; d) poisons and explosives.

10. Where should you check if you are not sure about what you can bring into the UK?

a) the British Embassy; b) the Queen;

c) the Parliament; d) the Customs officers.

Exercise 10. Translate the following terms into Russian. Give your own definition to them (in English) and learn these terms by heart.

1. a terminal; 2. a sign; 3. a date stamp; 4. an entry; 5. cash; 6. a penalty; 7. evidence; 8. an interview; 9. to check; 10. to arrive in/at.

Exercise 11. Write an outline of the text.

COMPREHENSION

Exercise 12. Fill in the table. Add two more categories for comparison.

	Arriving in the UK	Arriving in Russia
Corridors
Currency to declare
Forms of Control

Exercise 13. Fill in the gaps using the words given below, and translate the sentences into Russian.

cash refugees declaration checked evidence

inquiry interview cumulative declared value

1. The customs control found out that the description … with the photograph. 2. The tourist … the customs inspector’s actions to be illegal. 3. In the 19^th century there were lots of … coming to Britain from all corners of Europe. 4. Mr Smith was very tired after the exhaustive … at the Customs control. 5. His currency … turned out to be a fake. 6. Those tourists who have … more than 10,000 Euros have to declare it. 7. The plain … of facts is superior to all declarations. 8. Depression is often caused by the … effects of stress and overwork. 9. My former group-mate has a(n) … next Thursday for a job of an immigration officer. 10. There will be tax increases on a range of … and services.

Exercise 14. Replace the underlined words with the synonymous terms from the texts.

1. Going through the Red corridor involves check of goods you are importing in the country. 2. If a person carries too much cash while crossing the border he/she is subject to compulsory declaration. 3. The entire cost of all good you are carrying should not exceed 1,500 Euro otherwise you will have to pay customs duties. 4. The customs inspector ought in every case to be at work at about six in the morning. 5. The man was trying to smuggle several works of art such as ancient icons without any permission from the church. 6. His bank funds are numerous, and it is very difficult for the police to trace all of them. 7. When the Blacks family came to the country they didn’t even realize that there would be so many problems at the customs with their son’s toy gun. 8. Before registering their baggage they decided to wrap it in order not to have any further problems later. 9. There was a long queue at the carousels so many tourists had to wait for a long time. 10. What does the list of free imports include?

Exercise 15. a) Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right.

1. to carry goods	a) cultural values;
2. to pay taxes	b) Immigration control;
3. to be intended	c) on a moving belt;
4. to take out	d) exempt from custom duties;
5. to remove from	e) a date stamp;
6. to go through	f) a penalty;
7. to put	g) on the rate;
8. to join	h) the custom territory;
9. to unload	i) the correct queue;
10. to impose	j) for sale.

b) In the sentences below replace the Russian expressions with the phrases you have got. Use these expressions in the necessary form.

1. He always follows the green corridor as he always (перевозит только те товары, которые освобождены от уплаты пошлины). 2. Individuals can (платить налоги по ставке 13%) electronically. 3. Durians (предназначаются для продажи) only at the markets because of their awful smell. 4. When you (вывозите) overseas goods (с таможенной территории) pay attention to its cumulative weight. 5. Do you always (проходишь иммиграционный контроль) when you travel abroad? 6. The smuggler was stopped at the customs because he wanted (вывести культурные ценности). 7. The Customs inspector (поставил датировочный штемпель) in our passport without even looking at us. 8. In most airports nowadays all the luggage (разгружается на багажную ленту). 9. To save your time make sure you (встали в правильную очередь). 10. The customs inspector (наложил наказание) in the form of a fine on a group of tourists with expired visas.

WRITING AND COMMUNICATION

Exercise 16. Write an essay on one of the given topics and discuss it with your partner.

1. Customs Control and Clearance in the UK.

2. Customs Control and Clearance in Russia.

Exercise 17. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English.

1. При сдаче багажа оказалось, что его совокупный вес был больше допустимого, поэтому нам пришлось доплатить. 2. Сколько времени обычно требуется на растаможку груза? 3. Если вам нужно заполнить декларацию, вам надо следовать красным коридором. 4. Турист пытался убедить таможенника, что вывозимая им картина является не художественной ценностью, а всего лишь сувениром. 5. Даже быстрый досмотр пассажиров показал, что объявление террористической угрозы не было напрасным. 6. Ты заешь, в какой терминал прибывает самолет? 7. Он встал не в ту очередь и был зол после тридцатиминутного ожидания. 8. Какое наказание могут наложить таможенные органы? 9. Напишите название страны, в которой вы в настоящее время проживаете, в таможенной декларации. 10. Сотрудники таможенной службы могут настоять на заполнении вами таможенной декларации, особенно если вы путешествуете по популярным торговым маршрутам, например в Турцию.

PROJECT WORK

Imagine that you are customs officers. Divide into several groups and suggest your group-mates to fill in the customs declaration form.