Agenda item

Officers handed out a schedule of Heathrow freight seizures by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) for the period of February to 15 March 2010. This showed that:

• Port Health accounted for 50% to 60% of the total weight of POAOs seized by UKBA at Heathrow in freight
• The number of seizures had risen considerably in comparison to the same period in 2009, but there had been a reduction in the  overall weight amount
• The reduction in the weight amount indicated that more attempt was being made to export smaller weights, with the assumption that smaller weights would get through, as they would be less obvious and harder to detect

It was noted that an additional member of staff had been allocated to the Freight Team, to assist in increasing the detection of POAOs.

Members discussed the draft recommendations. Updates and additional comments were made in respect of the following:

Recommendation 2 – Officers advised that work had begun in setting the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); a secure email system for information sharing with other agencies.

Recommendation 4 – Officers were asked to find out whether resources could be sourced from Defra, to support more joint operations.

Recommendation 5 – That the ‘Scores on Doors’ for premises where food is prepared for public consumption should be publicised following an inspection. Telephone numbers and email addresses should also be advertised for members of the public to report concerns relating to any premises.

The Committee agreed for the final report and revised recommendations to be circulated to members for their comments and for the Chairman to approve the final report once all the amendments had been made.

The Chairman thanked officers, on behalf of the Committee for all their effort and work in the completing this review.

Resolved that:

1. The draft recommendations be agreed as follows:

                                i.            The Committee recognises the efforts made by Council and UKBA Officers to tackle illegal goods being sold in the Borough and recommends that a public information campaign be launched to raise residents’ awareness of how to identify illegally imported cosmetic and food and of reporting procedures.

                              ii.            The Committee is of the view that closer working between our partner agencies (e.g. Trading Standards, UKBA and Port Health) is essential.  The Committee therefore recommends that, as a matter of urgency a clear, accountable and robust Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or protocol be set up between the agencies in order to exchange information freely and securely and that a joint database of offending exporters be developed.

                                i.            The Committee recommends that IT systems used by Port Health offices at Heathrow Airport are available to officers 24 hours a day, and to ensure continuity, Members requested back up systems to be provided to support the critical process of information exchange.

                              ii.            The Committee recommends that Officers make efforts to identify external funding in support of additional joint operations.

                            iii.            The Committee recommends that information about the ‘Score on Doors’ scheme to be published in Hillingdon People, the Council’s magazine. Publicity should relate to premises where food is prepared on the premises for public consumption in local restaurants and should be advertised following an inspection.

                            iv.            During its deliberations, the Committee briefly considered the problems of the use of the drug Khat and its legal status. The Committee therefore recommends this as a future review topic in 2010/11.

2. That the final report be circulated to Members of the Committee for their comments.

3. That the Chairman approves and the final report.