16,000 litres of wine to be disposed of

COMPENSATION TALKS AFTER CARGO WRONGLY SEIZED AND NOW LIKELY PAST ITS USE-BY DATE

THE seizure of a consignment of wine at Holyhead Port should not have happened, a court ruled.

Border Force officials stopped and inspected a vehicle arriving at the Anglesey port carrying more than 16,000 litres of wine from Ireland in May 2018.

After speaking with the driver, the officers believed they had reason to suspect the vehicle was not destined for France and there was a possibility there would be an attempt to evade excise duty.

During a civil hearing, a district judge ordered the wine should be disposed of as confiscated at Llandudno Magistrates last June.

But the company which organised the transfer of the wine, Cork-based Euromax Commodities appealed against the decision. After a three day hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court it was ruled there had been no diversion from the published route at Holyhead and there was no suggestion duty would be evaded.

Announcing the court’s decision, Judge Huw Rees said Euromax Commodities was a reputable company and the decision to stop the vehicle was because it had been seized on a previous occasion.

It had since been sold and the ownership of the vehicle and the company’s operating licence was questioned. But this was not relevant to the part played by Euromax in the transfer of the goods.

The court ordered the UK Border Force to pay the costs of the appellant.

David Bedenham, for Euromax, said it was likely the wine was now out of date and would have been disposed of, but compensation negotiations would now take place.