Britain's port authorities run far fewer checks on imported items than their European counterparts and systems for detecting smuggled drugs and counterfeit goods are riddled with innacuracies and inefficiency, an official report reveals today.

Britain's port authorities run far fewer checks on imported items than their European counterparts and systems for detecting smuggled drugs and counterfeit goods are riddled with innacuracies and inefficiency, an official report reveals today.

The National Audit Office (NAO) found "fragmented management a lack of clear accountability, and incomplete management information" at the HM Revenue and Customs which was hindering efforts to detect contraband goods and called for a shake-up in its procedures.

There was a "substantial drop" in the number of checks on goods passing through Britain's ports and airports between 2005 and 2008, the NAO found. In 2007-08, between 2% and 3% of goods were checked, substantially below the European Union average of 9%.

The number of audits of businesses had also dropped significantly, despite a rise in the proportion of irregularities being detected among small and medium business, the NAO found.

The publication of the report led Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, to say: "The National Audit Office report rings alarm bells about HMRC's control of imports. The department's management of customs activities is described as fragmented and the report highlights a lack of clear accountability and incomplete management information on compliance levels.

"All of this can only make it easier for rogue traders to bring prohibited and restricted goods, such as counterfeit goods, drugs, guns and ammunition, into the country and for them to dodge paying the right amount of duty."

In 2007-08, HMRC processed 22 million import declarations, raising £2.5bn in customs duty and £18.3bn in import VAT, the NAO found.