HC Deb 23 June 1994 vol 245 cc348-9
8. Mr. Spellar

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals she has to reduce fraud in the CAP.

Mr. Jack

The Commission has proposed the introduction of sanctions against intervention and export refund fraud. We already have such sanctions for direct payments to farmers. Subject to some clarification and textual changes, we will support this proposal, which aims to penalise fraudsters and reduce fraud.

Mr. Spellar

Has this not taken an inordinately long time, during which thousands of millions of pounds have been ripped off from taxpayers right across the Community? Does the Minister accept that his reply is extremely complacent in the face of enormous problems, particularly in the southern part of Europe? What does he propose to do about the scandalous behaviour of the tobacco industry, which has produced a product that even I would not smoke and ripped off £500 million a year, a considerable amount of it due to fraud?

Mr. Jack

The hon. Gentleman asks what we intend to do about this, but it is a Community matter. If he cares to read the report of a debate in the Scrutiny Committee about the tobacco regime, he will discover that the United Kingdom has been in the lead in proposing measures to deal with the absurdities of that regime. We are in the lead in backing the work of the Court of Auditors and requesting more Community effort to combat fraud. That is why 50 more people are employed at the Department to deal with fraud and why in the past two years the number of frauds and irregularities reported has doubled.

Mr. Garnier

Will my hon. Friend ensure that the 50 people to whom he referred and he and his colleagues give every support to the work of the European Court of Auditors, so that the fraud being noticed throughout the Community is dealt with forcefully and impartially not only at the centre of the Union but by every member of it?

Mr. Jack

I will certainly do that. One of the important features to note from the work of the Court of Auditors is the role that the Commission can now play in ensuring that member states play by the rules because of the imposition of disallowance—the recovery of moneys which should not have been paid out. That certainly concentrates the minds of member states and we strongly support further action in that area.