Editing HM Customs and Excise (section)

===Preventive work===
HMCE was responsible for managing the [[import]] and [[export]] of goods and services into the UK; as such, its officers were active in the detection and prevention of attempts to evade the revenue laws, for example through [[smuggling]] or illicit [[Distilled beverage|distillation of alcohol]]. Since the early 17th century, the searching of vessels for illicit goods when undertaken by [[customs officer]]s has been called 'rummaging'.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rummage|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rummage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926102210/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rummage|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 September 2016|website=Oxford Living Dictionaries|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2 March 2018}}</ref>