8


Issue 2 2012


///NEWS


Freight fears could cripple UK life science industry, warn scientists


So many freight companies have been frightened off carrying animals for medical research that the UK’s life sciences industry is under threat, warn scientists. A report by the BBC said that


campaigns by animal rights activists, bombarding airlines, ports, ferry operators and handling agents on social media sites and with letters of complaint has led to British Airways, P&O, SeaFrance, DFDS Seaways and other carriers refusing to carry animals destined for research. Now Stena, the last major ferry


operator, ended its involvement in January. Eurotunnel does not carry livestock, either. In a statement, P&O Ferries said it


had “a long established ban on the carriage of livestock for slaughter, or fattening prior to slaughter. In May 2011 we extended this to include the carriage of primates and other species intended for use by the life sciences industry. This decision followed a campaign by animal rights groups which we felt had the potential to negatively affect our business.” The transport industry has been


the target of animal rights activists in the past including a letter bomb being sent to the freight director of Stena Sealink in the early 1990s. It exploded, injuring a secretary. The general feeling in the industry is that the minuscule amount of research animal traffic is not worth the potential disruption it could cause. Many passengers have also written, objecting


to travelling


on the same vessel as animals destined for laboratories. While only 1% of the animals


used in laboratory experiments are imported from overseas, scientists


say the small number of animals from specialist breeding facilities in Europe and around the world is vital to their work and, if they cannot get the specific strains they need the UK will struggle to maintain its leading position in bio- medical research. The


BBC report quoted


Professor Dominic Wells from the Royal Veterinary College, who said: “When only a few companies were affected that wasn’t a game changer, but it’s now getting to the point where enough companies have been intimidated that we


Tappin ‘was big time’ alleges prosecution


US prosecutors alleged that freight forwarder Christopher Tappin was heavily involved in trading with Iran at a bail hearing last week, according to the Mail Online. Mr Tappin has been accused


of attempting to export batteries for Hawk air defence missiles, while he argued that he was the victim of entrapment by US government agents. In December 2005, he arranged a shipment of batteries from the US to the Netherlands but a US


agent turned out to be a front for customs agents. A senior investigator for the Immigration and Customs


US


Enforcement service told a Texas court that the retired director of Orpington-based Brooklands Freight


Services had provided


fake documents for 50 batteries for Hawk surface-to-air missiles that he was planning to ship to Iran. They also contested his claim that his commission on the deal was a mere £320, instead arguing that he


stood to earn around £96,000. They said that they had


obtained records from a Cyprus- based British associate of Mr Tappin, Robert Gibson, a showing that before the ‘sting’ operation, mounted by US Customs officers, Mr Tappin had been involved in other breaches of the Iran arms embargo. Previous transactions included an apparent $2 million deal shipped to the UAE and then Iran. Gibson has already been convicted for his role in


the alleged conspiracy and sentenced to 24 months in prison. Prosecutors also said that


aſter he finally was extradited to El Paso, Mr Tappin attempted to conceal trips to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates that were revealed in stamps when they seized his passport. His lawyer, Kent Schaffer, told


the BBC that an appeal would be launched against the decision not to grant bail.


US puts five forwarders on banned list


Five freight forwarders who have performed significant work for the US Government and its contractors have been added to the Excluded Party List System (EPLS), debarring them from similar work in future. They are BAX Global, Kühne + Nagel, Panalpina (in Switzerland and New Jersey) and Schenker. The move follows a guilty plea to price-fixing charges by certain of


these companies in September 2010 and agreement to pay $50.7 million in criminal fines to the US Government. In a letter to its clients, international law and


Spalding said:


firm King “Moreover,


because these forwarders oſten are used for shipments on defense contracts, the US Department of State’s Directorate


of Defense Trade Controls, which is the agency that administers the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), issued guidance on 24 February stating that the forwarders are ineligible to participate in transactions requiring authorization under the ITAR without DDTC’s grant of a transaction exception. Transactions exceptions generally


are granted only in cases where an exception is in the foreign policy or national security interests of the US.” It added that companies who


have agreements with these freight forwarders, or who may wish to contract with them in the future, should exercise “great care” to ensure compliance with US government restrictions contracting with debarred entities.


on


An Essex gang has been jailed for one of the UK’s biggest ever alcohol diversion frauds. Kevin Burrage, owner of Promptstock, a bonded warehouse in Essex managed by his brother-in-law, Gary Clark, Michael Turner and Davinder Singh Dhaliwal conspired to defraud the UK exchequer of £50m in unpaid duty and VAT, which they used to fund a lifestyle of luxury cars and expensive cars. Confiscation proceedings are under way. The gang bought household


branded beer, wine and spirits from bonded warehouses in France and imported it duty free into the UK, destined for Promptstock. But it was then illegally diverted to locations around the UK where it was sold on without duty being added. For example, a vehicle loaded with vodka arrived in the UK for delivery to the Promptstock bonded warehouse but was diverted to an industrial unit in Hayes, Middlesex, for distribution in the UK, without the duty being paid. Dhaliwal was observed supervising the offloading of the vodka into the unit. The goods were seized by HMRC officers. The gang also reversed the fraud


by appearing to send trucks to France loaded with non duty paid alcohol. The alcohol actually remained in the UK and was sold on, again with no tax added. To avoid detection, the gang sent empty trucks to the continent, several of which were intercepted by UK Borders Agency officers. For instance, an empty trailer


was sent to France but the beer was found by HMRC officers at premises in Leicester complete with orange rotation stickers stuck on at Promptstock’s premises. Accomplice Michael Turner


owned Keytrades (Europe) which provided a seemingly legitimate cover for movements of the alcohol consignments while Davinder Singh Dhaliwal organised the delivery of large quantities of alcohol ready for distribution. Following a covert surveillance operation, the gang was arrested in a series of dawn raids by HMRC officers in November 2008. One of the haulage companies


involved in the fraud, Stag Freight, was owned by John Byrne, and run by transport manager, Terry Ward . They were convicted of cheating the Public Revenue and jailed for seven years each in August 2011.


can see a potentially massive impact on the collaborative nature of research, and which will slow research progress”. He called on the government to get together with the transport industry and to agree to support the life sciences “so that companies can’t be picked off one at a time”. In a joint statement, the Medical


Research Council, the Association of Medical Research Charities, the Wellcome Trust and the Laboratory Animal Breeders Association pointed out that takes years to breed specific strains


it


of animals for research purposes. If sharing such animals was stopped then individual institutes would have to breed their own lines, requiring the unnecessary use of many more animals over successive generations. The UK industry is particularly


vulnerable because Britain is an island, making it relatively easy for activists to target the relatively small number of airlines and ferry companies involved in the trade.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science- environment-17366253


Gang jailed for £50m diversion fraud


Diverted duties funded a lavish lifestyle


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