The classic distinction in international relations between mutual assistance in criminal matters and mutual administrative assistance has become diffuse. A blurring of transnational policy issues in the struggle against fraud continues to hamper efficient cooperation between states, despite the increasing interaction of national enforcement agencies supported by automated systems and a growing number of supranational institutions with enforcement powers. Particularly among the member states of the European Union, the disparate law of international cooperation needs to be examined and clarified, in terms both of instruments and of legal guarantees. This book offers an English translation, updated to mid-2001, of a Dutch study which appeared earlier that year. The study was originally commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, which recognized that the way to clear standards of cooperation lay through in-depth comparative research into the relevant law, practice, and recent experience of several major national jurisdictions. A five-member research group worked with the help of the Willem Pompe Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, the Foundation for the Promotion of Criminal Law Research, and the Utrecht Faculty of Law's Centre for Enforcement of European Law. In order to focus meaningfully on the theme of combating fraud in its most significant current manifestations, the researchers restricted their study to customs law, fiscal law, and agricultural law in four EC countries. Among the core legal matters investigated are the following: exchange of enforcement data; performance of acts of investigation; the "moment" in each legal system at which it is necessary to switch from administrative assistance to assistance in criminal matters; and the manner in which national systems of evidence deal with evidence from abroad. Based on a close study of legislation and case law in each of the four countries-in addition to numerous personal interviews-the analysis clearly identifies the legal problems, and makes recommendations as to how transnational administrative law and cooperation in criminal matters may be most effectively arranged.

This book focuses on the enforcement aspect of tobacco control policy, and argues that the intense regulation of the tobacco market will never be successful as long as it can be circumvented by the availability of illicit tobacco products. Yet, current efforts to combat illicit tobacco trade are insufficient, suffering from several flaws and gaps at the regulatory and operational levels. The aim of this book is to provide an analysis of the legal framework and practice of enforcement with regard to illicit tobacco products. Combining criminological and legal perspectives, it presents and critically analyses the phenomenon of illicit tobacco trade, as well as the policies, legal frameworks and practices in six EU countries with regard to combatting this phenomenon, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their approaches. Furthermore, it studies the relationship between the EU and third countries (e.g. Ukraine) in terms of how the EU can influence policy and enforcement in these countries in order to counter illicit tobacco trafficking. Not exclusively focusing on the EU, the book also includes an analysis of enforcement against illicit tobacco products in the US. The EU Member States analysed in the book (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland) reflect the range of currently available approaches. Some of them have ratified the WHO Protocol against tobacco smuggling; others have not. They belong to different legal traditions and face different challenges due to their respective border situations. While Belgium and the Netherlands are key entry ports to the EU, Poland and Latvia represent the Eastern land border of the EU, with various regional challenges. Italy has a long maritime border, where trafficking is possible from Northern Africa and from the Middle East. It also has significant experience in fighting organised crime. Lastly, Germany is the largest market in Europe and situated in the middle of these trafficking routes.

This collection of papers reflects a growing interest among European Union law scholars and practitioners in the impact of Community law on the main fields of the Member States' legal orders. It brings together case studies from divergent policy areas such as customs law, foodstuffs and waste transport, as well as more general analyses from both a comparative legal and a political science point of view.