HC Deb 18 May 1999 vol 331 cc334-5W
Mr. Hawkins

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 26 April 1999,Official Report, column 56, concerning HM Customs and Excise staff at Heathrow, since 1 May 1997 in relation to Customs Cargo staff other than NIS at Heathrow, how many jobs have been lost in Customs Cargo; what is the reduction in staff of the import control teams; what steps are being taken to combat the increase in traffic of the undeclared excise goods from the Continent; how HM Customs and Excise plans to meet its obligations with regard to DTI documentary checks, CAP controls, community transit controls and anti counterfeit checks; and what is the estimated revenue loss from failure to detect undeclared excise goods. [84225]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 17 May 1999]: There are currently 222 staff years allocated to the Cargo Division at Heathrow. In Customs Cargo at Heathrow the following reductions have been made in staff since 1997:

  • Year to March 1998–10.5 Staff years (4 per cent.)
  • Year to March 1999–9 staff years (3.6 per cent.)
  • Year to March 2000–15 staff years (6.2 per cent.).

Of these reductions the following numbers were involved in import control:

  • 1998–0
  • 1999–0
  • 2000–8.

The reductions in the current year have been made to reflect the movement of freight control inland as a result of the take up of Customs Freight Simplified Procedures (CFSP). The percentage of import entries at Heathrow now being processed via the CFSP system is 41.8 per cent.

The increase in traffic of undeclared excise goods from the continent is being addressed in a number of ways. During the last financial year a special exercise was run, under Customs risk testing programme, to target tobacco goods in freight. The exercise produced £53.085 in revenue over six weeks, of which all but £300 was for tobacco goods. The results of that exercise have been fed into Customs ongoing risk review. This will provide sharper and more focused targeting of staff onto those freight consignments and importers that are considered a risk to the revenue, together with better intelligence in trend analysis and identification.

DTI documentary checks and CAP control checks are subject to computer-based selection profiles. Community transit and anti-counterfeit checks are carried out by import and export control staff as part of their normal scrutiny and examination roles, using intelligence and risk analysis techniques to target resources effectively.

The estimated revenue loss from failure to detect undeclared excise goods at Heathrow Cargo is not known as all current estimates specifically exclude freight consignments. The revenue estimated as lost nationally through cigarette smuggling by air passengers is £50m per year. Further details on cross-border shopping and smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products were laid in the House of Commons Library on 19 November 1998.