Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, (b) police forces, (c) the National Crime Agency, (d) HMRC and (e) other law enforcement agencies on the potential traffic of illicit and counterfeit goods through freeports.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues across Government and other law enforcement agencies where all aspects of border security are discussed as needed.

Measures are in place across all our borders and points of entry to tackle the importation of counterfeit or illicit goods. We continue to work closely with Intellectual Property (IP) Right’s Holders, HMRC and other agencies such as Trading Standards to ensure rigorous controls on goods across the UK.

IP Right’s Holders can help protect their rights by making an Application for Action. This requests Border Force to detain goods suspected of infringing a range of rights, including trademarks, copyrights, design and patents.

Freeports, in the same way as every other business in the UK, will have to adhere to the UK’s high regulatory standards with respect to security. Moreover, Freeports will be subject to an annual audit, by HMRC and Border Force, to make sure security measures continue to meet the high standards expected from Freeport operators to mitigate security risks across physical, personnel, and cyber domains.