§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list, with the penalties imposed, the cases since 1994 of illegal food imports where prosecution succeeded. [169651]
§ Mr. Bradshaw[holding answer 30 April 2004]Figures for prosecutions for illegal imports are not held centrally.
HM Customs and Excise have had responsibility for anti-smuggling controls on products of animal origin from 11 April 2003. Since then they have brought two prosecutions in 2004 under the Customs and Excise Management Act for illegal imports, both of which were successful. In each case the defendant was fined and costs were awarded against them.
There have been a number of other prosecutions related to illegal imports since 2000 but not all were tried as offences under illegal imports legislation.