§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What strategy is in place to prevent the import of illegal meats at the point of departure; and whether any analysis has been conducted into the case for such a strategy in a broader effort to reduce illegal meat imports. [HL3444]
§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey:As a key part of the Government's broader strategy on products of animal origin (POAO), Customs are working with third countries on focused publicity campaigns to press the message not to bring illegal products of animal origin to the UK.
51WAA number of airlines have agreed to make in-flight announcements, to display information leaflets at check-in and to allow advertising space in their in-flight magazines and on their websites.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What trials or research have been conducted to assess the value of expanding the use of x-ray equipment in detecting illegal meat imports. [HL3445]
§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey:Customs make use of x-ray technology to detect illegal meat and other prohibited and restricted goods. They have undertaken a number of informal trials using their own x-ray equipment as well as external trials involving developments in x-ray technology offered by other manufacturers. The effectiveness of available equipment is continually assessed, and Customs remain committed to working with other UK and overseas agencies, as well as manufacturers, to make the most of new technology where it can provide good value for money.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What is the budget for seizures of illegal meat imports this year; and what funding is envisaged for the prosecution of illegal meat importing. [HL3397]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty):The Government have made available £10 million for the financial year 2004–05 to tackle illegal imports from outside the European Union of any meat, other animal products and plant products, of which £7 million went to Customs.
Customs will spend this £7 million funding in order to achieve its strategic objectives which include seizure and publicity to deter passengers from travelling to the UK with illegal products of animal origin. Funding for prosecutions will depend on the number of detections that meet the criteria for prosecutions.
Information is not held centrally on funding of local authorities for prosecutions relating to illegal imports of meat.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: Since the publication of the Annual Review o Controls on Imports of Animal Products 2002–03, what work the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has conducted with H M Customs and Excise to establish an effective strategy of prosecutions of illegal meat importers; and [HL3411]
Whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will work with the Magistrates' Association to ensure that more attention is paid to illegal imports. [HL3416]
§ Lord Whitty:Defra and H M Customs and Excise are in constant contact on all aspects concerning illegal imports in accordance with the service level agreement. Customs have to balance use of resources between detection, seizure and prosecution in order to maximise overall impact. The most effective way to 52WA tackle illegal imports of meat and products of animal origin is to enhance awareness of the rules and regulations, detect breaches of those rules, seize and disrupt, with investigation and prosecution confined to the most serious cases.
Officials from Defra, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the Department for Constitutional Affairs are currently working to ensure magistrates are aware of the potential consequences of illegal meat imports. A joint meeting with the Magistrates' Association has been arranged in August.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What reporting system is in place to ensure that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is able to monitor and analyse all data on seizures of illegal meats by H M Customs and Excise. [HL3412]
§ Lord Whitty:All seizures of illegal imports of products of animal origin made by H M Customs and Excise are recorded on their database. Defra receives monthly data reports from Customs.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What information-sharing strategy is in place to ensure that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, local authorities, port health authorities and H M Customs and Excise are kept up to date on illegal meat investigations. [HL3413]
§ Lord Whitty:Steps have been taken in order to ensure that all agencies involved with enforcement measures to tackle illegal imports work closely together to ensure that the requirements are understood and intelligence is shared. There is a statutory gateway within the legislation to allow for the exchange of relevant information between enforcement authorities.
As an example, Customs have set up an intelligence exchange with the Food Standards Agency to pass relevant information to the appropriate local authority, and the FSA will shortly issue information to local authorities and port health authorities on this liaison between the relevant departments on matters concerning illegally imported products of animal origin.
The responsibility for inland investigations of illegal meat domestically produced and imported falls to local authorities. The FSA will provide support to local authorities if requested by offering assistance from members of the Illegal Meat Task Force, or from FSA investigators.
§ Lord Rotherwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What feedback has been received from local authority enforcement officers on the practical results of wider powers of entry, search and inspection, provided in the 2002 regulations, in seizing and prosecuting illegal meat imports. [HL3414]
53WA
§ Lord Whitty:Formal feedback has not been sought by government from local authority enforcement officers on the practical results of powers relating to illegal meat imports which was contained in the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England) Regulations 2002.