§ Mr. Gray:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when Customs records relating to regulatory controls on the importation of firearms at Farnborough airport in 1999 were destroyed; how many (a) prohibited firearms were controlled arising from a single flight arriving in March 1999 and (b) non-prohibited firearms were controlled at other times in 1999; and whether the date of March 1999 recorded as the month in which prohibited weapons were controlled at Farnborough has been ascertained from (i) a contemporaneous record and (ii) a secondary record; [143605]
(2) how many prohibited firearms were surrendered to Customs by passengers who arrived at United Kingdom airports in 1999 on civilian flights in such a manner that the incidents were deemed by Customs not to be irregular. [143673]
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§ John Healey:I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 20 November 2003, Official Report, column 1330W. The Customs records referred to in that answer were destroyed in February 2002. The date recorded in relation to the movement of prohibited weapons in March 1999 was obtained from a secondary record.
All four of the firearms controlled by HM Customs and Excise in the single importation in March 1999 were prohibited within the meaning of the Firearms Act 1968.
An accurate total of the number of non-prohibited firearms controlled by Customs at other times in 1999 is no longer available, as the only records still in existence are incomplete.
Information on the numbers of prohibited firearms surrendered at UK airports in 1999 could be provided only at disproportionate cost, and are also likely to be incomplete.
In accordance with international aviation agreements and Civil Aviation Authority regulations. Customs do not regard importations of prohibited firearms by air passengers as irregular where they are declared by:
a sky marshal who holds a firearm for the purposes of protecting and aircraft and its passengers;a VIP bodyguard;a properly authorised UK police officer; orany other passenger who is resident in a foreign state and whose possession of that firearm is lawful in that state.Customs' normal policy is to require prior notification of the intended arrival of armed sky marshals or bodyguards. Properly authorised police officers may retain possession of their firearms. In other cases Customs detain the firearms and any ammunition, which are then returned to the person on departure from the UK.
§ Mr. Gray:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Customs facilities at Farnborough airport included red and green physical channels in 1999. [143672]
§ John Healey:Customs controls at Farnborough airport in 1999 operated on the basis of individual clearance of all the incoming international passengers, rather than use of the red and green Channels system.