§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to increase the monitoring of asbestos imports. [7899]
§ Mr. OppenheimI have been asked to reply.
HM Customs and Excise is responsible for enforcing the statutory controls on imports of asbestos from third countries—the controls do not apply to intra-Community movements.
Customs is not aware of any current circumstances which warrant an increase in the monitoring of asbestos imports. Any information indicating that there may be an enhanced risk of unauthorised imports of asbestos should be passed to customs.