§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the cases of detected fraud within the common agricultural policy; and what is being done to halt this malpractice.
§ Mr. MacGregorIn the period from 1984 to 1987 inclusive there have been 31 cases of detected fraud in the United Kingdom under the CAP. Of these 17 were settled out of court and 14 were prosecuted, leading to three prison sentences and fines totalling £29,950. In addition, there were some 300 cases where action was taken to recover payments made irregularly.
Rigorous checks are made by this Ministry, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce to deter and detect fraud under the CAP. I am also pressing other member states arid the Commission to step up co-ordinated action against fraud across the Community.