§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many(a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions have been undertaken by the Intervention Board for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [34731]
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI have asked the chief executive of the Intervention Board to reply direct.
Letter from Guy Stapleton to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 19 July 1995:
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your question about prosecutions due for answer on 18 July 1995, as this is a matter within my operational responsibility.The position on prosecutions undertaken by the Intervention Board since 1990 is:
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Total Successful 8 6 6 7 2 1 30 Unsuccessful 2 1 0 1 1 0 5
The success rate over the period is 83‥ which is commendable given the generally complex nature of the EC support systems managed by the Intervention Board.The reduced levels of activity in 1994 and 1995 substantially reflect the extent to which support is not targeted directly to farmers through the Agriculture Departments, following the reform of the CAP in 1992.Prosecutions covering the external trade area of the Agency's business are conducted by HM Customs and Excise. The achievements over the same period were:
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Total Successful 1 1 3 3 0 0 8 Unsuccessful 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
The success rate for external trade cases is 80‥, quite close to the level achieved on internal market support schemes.