Excise Duties: Fraud
Treasury
Kevin Barron (Rother Valley, Labour)
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) he or his Ministers, (b) his officials and (c) HM Revenue and Customs officials have met representatives of the tobacco industry and discussed Codentify technology; and whether he has a policy on whether the Codentify tobacco industry security system would be appropriate for the protection of excise duty in the beer and alcohol industry in the UK.
Chloe Smith (Norwich North, Conservative)
Neither the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend Mr Osborne, nor any Treasury Ministers or officials have met with representatives of the tobacco industry to discuss Codentify technology. HM Revenue and Customs officials have held meetings with the tobacco industry where Codentify technology has been explained by the industry.
HMRC continue to monitor developments in Codentify and, as part of their consultation on measures to counter alcohol fraud, are exploring all potential options for systems designed to secure revenue in the alcohol sector.