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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on the measures in place to control the importation of foodstuffs; [218462] (2) what the budget is in 2004-05 for the inspection and monitoring of food imports; and if she will make a statement; [218463] (3) what inspection facilities are in place at (a) ports and (b) airports to control the importation of foodstuffs; and if she will make a statement. [218464] Alun Michael: The information is as follows: Illegal imports £25 million of new money has been made available over three years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 to tackle illegal imports of products of animal origin (POAO) and plants and plant based goods (PBG) from third countries. HM Customs and Excise have enforcement responsibility at the frontier for illegal imports of products of animal origin (POAO) and plant based goods (PBG) from countries outside the European Union. Customs have over 3,500 Detection staff who have anti-smuggling responsibilities for POAO and PBG. Within this Customs has dedicated around additional 100 officers specifically to POAO and PBG; 10 POAO detector dogs are also deployed. Food of animal origin All products of animal origin imported from third countries must enter at designated Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) where they are subject to veterinary inspections to make sure they comply with EU import rules. BIPs are approved by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. There are currently BIPs at 11 ports and five airports in England that are approved to check imports of products of animal origin for human consumption. The inspection services at the BIP are the responsibility of the local authority. Officers from the State Veterinary Service regularly visit BIPs to offer advice and check on compliance with EU requirements. FVO inspectors inspect BIPs to ensure that they are operating correctly. EU law requires the local authority to recover the costs of the import checks from importers: details of budgets are not held centrally. If there is an outbreak of disease likely to present a risk to human or animal health, Community legislation allows us to take appropriate safeguard action, which may include a ban on imports of meat from all, or parts, of that country. For non-animal food Food imports from countries outside the European Union must meet food safety and food standards requirements equivalent to those for UK produced food, and can be subject to checks by local food authorities at UK ports and inland to ensure they comply. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for allocating local authority budgets, and funding for imported food controls would form part of the Revenue Support Grant arrangements. The Food Standards Agency has made further specific funding available through grants for local authority sampling and surveillance of imported food. In 2003-04, a total of £600 000 was allocated to 110 authorities and, in 2004-05, £840 000 to 140 authorities. Under the Imported Food Regulations 1997, the person importing food not of animal origin shall provide all such facilities as may be reasonably required for the examination of the food. In practice, facilities are provided by the port operators and vary according to the type of port and the nature and size of the foods imported. We have been discussing with the European Commission the possibility of sharing BIP facilities with authorities checking non-animal food goods.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

431 c1933-4W;431 c1925-6W; 218462;218463;218464

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Airports Animal products Finance Inspections Enforcement Food Facilities Import controls Imports Ports Monitoring Smuggling

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk