Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the illicit trade in tobacco products.

Border Force routinely searches for illicit tobacco at the border, acting as one element of a comprehensive cross-government Tobacco Strategy. Border Force targets and seizes illicit tobacco products, referring seizures on tonHM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for prosecution.

In the Budget 2016, it was announced that Border Force would receive an additional £31 million of funding over four years to increase tobacco detection capability by the equivalent of 150 extra officers. HMRC also received additional resources in the summer Budget 2015 to tackle illicit tobacco.