Tobacco: Illicit Trade

Lord Tebbit Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, the Government will certainly consult their European partners. The whole point about dealing with smuggling and illicit trade is that it is a cross-border matter, and therefore it is essential that there is a pan-European agreement on how to deal with it. The Government certainly intend to continue doing that.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

Will my noble friend say when the European Union finally ceased to subsidise the growing of tobacco in Greece? It was still being subsidised into the 1990s. When did it actually stop?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am afraid I do not know the answer to that, but I am sure that my noble friend will be able to tell me.