Pro-life swoop by customs officers

May 1992

A huge consignment of anti-abortion leaflets destined for distribution in Ireland was temporarily seized by customs officers in Rosslare Harbour last week.

A vehicle containing 750,000 leaflets which were being imported into Ireland by a Pro-Life movement in England was held back after it drove through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel.

The consignment should have driven through the red channel and declared to customs personnel for the payment of VAT, which is charged at a rate of 21%.

Customs officials stopped the vehicle as it drove through the green channel, and held onto the leaflets until the payment of the import duty was arranged several hours later.

A spokesman for the Customs in Rosslare Harbour stressed that there was no question of smuggling involved, and pointed out that the content of the leaflets was in fact irrelevant.

‘It had nothing to do with the content of the literature,’ he said. ‘It was a normal importation of literature. There was simply a misunderstanding about the payment of VAT.’

He added that customs personnel realised the ‘sensitivity’ of the situation, and their concern was that they would wish to do their job totally impartially.

Spokespersons for both SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child) and the Dublin Pro-Life Campaign have said they had nothing to do with the importation of the leaflets.