reg 49A Power to share information
(1) Officers of Revenue and Customs may disclose any information in their possession to the following for the purposes of the enforcement of the Community Regulation or these Regulations— (a) the Environment Agency; (b) the Natural Resources Body for Wales; (c) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; and (d) the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. (2) Paragraph (1) is without prejudice to any other power of officers of Revenue and Customs to disclose information. (3) Nothing in paragraph (1) authorises the making of a disclosure which contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998. (4) Paragraph (5) applies to information— (a) which was obtained by means of a disclosure authorised by paragraph (1); and (b) which relates to a person whose identity is specified in the disclosure or can be deduced from it. (5) No person, including a servant of the Crown, may disclose any information to which this paragraph applies unless— (a) the disclosure is for a purpose specified in paragraph (1); and (b) the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have given their consent to the disclosure. (6) Consent for the purposes of paragraph (5)(b) may be given in relation to a particular disclosure or in relation to disclosures made in such circumstances as may be specified or described in the consent. (7) A person who breaches paragraph (5) is guilty of an offence. (8) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under paragraph (7) to prove a reasonable belief— (a) that the disclosure was lawful; or (b) that the information had previously been made available to the public lawfully.