Ms Christine Smith:

In terms of regulation and their enforcement, one area that has not been raised at any length is the black market, which is something that exists. It is something that we have come across in different ways. I can see it at consumer level and a commercial level. I have seen a product for which we have exclusivity in this country on a supermarket shelf. I know that we did not supply the supermarket with the product so one could ask how it got it. When one does a bit of detective work one discovers that it has not been duty paid in Ireland. One knows that when one speaks to the manager of the wine department who says how much he paid for it and one knows one cannot compete. When one is selling such and such a product one goes in with one's portfolio and the manager responds that he can buy it for €65 while my price is €90 and that it would be nuts for him to buy it from me. On examining the bottle one discovers that the capsule is a capsules répresentatives des droits, CRD, capsule from France, which is an indication that the duty has been paid in France. Once it has been paid in France it is in free circulation and there is nothing about going from bond to bond or duty suspended so it is not something that has ever had duty paid in Ireland but it is coming in and is being sold. It is being sold by a company purporting to be a bona fide wine importer but it is the black market.

One also hears that people in vans are quite willing to sell one stuff. They are selling to restaurants and the off-trade. They are selling to anyone who will buy it. It might cost them €2.50 at point of origin and the cheapest they will sell it for is €36. There is no way we could do that as it would not even cover the duty.