§ Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ How successful they have been in raising public awareness of the rules regarding the import of animal products for personal consumption; and how this success has been measured; and [HL3568]
§ What range of activities was used to raise public awareness of the rules regarding the import of animal products for personal consumption; and what was the cost of these activities since the strategy was implemented. [HL3569]
§ Lord Whitty:Two surveys, the last of which reported in May 2003, indicated that there had been a low level of public awareness of the rules regarding the import of animal products for personal consumption.
Since then, we have made a significant effort to raise public awareness of the rules. For example, there has been increased enforcement activity by Customs, more prominent posters being displayed at ports and airports and revised leaflets have been produced. Also, many airlines now publicise the rules at check in, by in-flight announcements and their on-board magazines, and 3¼ million travel wallets now carry the "if in doubt, leave it out" message. Customs is producing a number of language and country-specific versions of the leaflets; and these will be made available internationally as well as being used by Customs detection staff at ports and airports. Defra has written again to universities, charities and volunteer organisations. The Central Office of Information has been commissioned to undertake research in the UK about attitudes and sensitivities surrounding the importation of food. The results of this research will be used to inform future publicity campaigns.
We will undertake further periodic surveys to monitor the success of the various campaigns.
In addition, we have committed £25 million over the three financial years from 2003–04 to tackle illegal imports of products of animal origin. Detail of the costs of the publicity campaigns is not available as central departmental funds are used for this purpose in addition to the specifically allocated budget.