Powers of entry, search and seizure Section 14: Power to stop and search persons
Subsections (1) and (2) confer powers on to police and customs officers to stop and search persons. The power is engaged where the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has committed, or is committing, a relevant offence, as defined in subsection (4).
	The Act does not affect possession of ivory and as such there is no provision for a possession offence and there is no power to stop and search where an officer suspects that a person has in his or her possession an ivory item that is not intended for dealing. The officer will need to have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person has committed or is committing an offence in relation to dealing. This, for instance, may include through intelligence gathered as to a planned sale of ivory items, or information from the registration database that an item has been falsely registered. A police or customs officer may also detain a stopped person for the purpose of carrying out the search.
	The term "police or customs officer" is defined for the purposes of the Act in subsection (4) to include National Crime Agency (NCA) officers designated with the powers and privileges of a constable or officer of Revenue and Customs (see the definition in section 38(1)) and authorised by the Director General of the NCA to exercise the powers of a police or customs officer. The intention is that NCA officers designated with the powers and privileges of a constable and/or the powers of an officer of Revenue and Customs (under section 10 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013) will have access to the powers contained in the Act. The Crime and Courts Act 2013 operates in such a way that an NCA officer designated with the powers and privileges of a constable, officer of Revenue and Customs, or both would automatically be able to exercise the powers of a constable and/or Revenue and Customs officer (as the case may be), as conferred under statute or common law. The reference to an NCA officer in subsection (4) is drafted in such a way as to ensure that it is consistent with that general approach.
	As provided for in subsection (3), the stop and search powers are exercisable in any place to which the police or customs officer has access. This would include any public place and any premises that are the subject of a search warrant issued under section 18.