§ David BurnsideTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the number and value of cigarettes smuggled into Northern Ireland and the loss of revenue to the Exchequer due to such smuggling in the last 12 months. [79192]
§ John HealeyCustoms do not keep separate records of the number and value of cigarettes smuggled into Northern Ireland. The vast majority of smuggled cigarettes enter the UK through the major ports and are then distributed across the UK.
The Government will be publishing figures, for the UK, of the number of cigarettes seized and the latest estimate of the revenue loss from the illicit tobacco market as part of the pre-Budget report.
The most recently published information for the scale of revenue loss in the illicit tobacco market is for the year 2000–01, and is contained in "Tackling Indirect Tax Fraud" published in November 2001, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.