Illegal Meat Imports

Question: I thank the Minister for his reply. Have the Government looked at new imaging technologies to detect meat and plant material in personal luggage?

Answer: Yes, we have been considering that, and if the research that we have been doing proves to be useful in this important work, we will certainly take a serious look at it. That is on top of a number of other measures that we have taken, including £29 million of expenditure over three years, 100 new dedicated customs officers and 10 sniffer dogs operating at our airports and ports. The National Audit Office recently published a very complimentary report on the work of customs in detecting illegal imports.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 434 c1380
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Disease control Import controls Imports Meat Security X-rays Smuggling
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk