Charges against a company for failing to lodge statistical returns on three occasions in 1996 were dismissed by a District Court judge yesterday after he ruled that a document relating to the prosecution had not been served properly. Viset Ltd, of 5 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, which was not represented at Dublin Metropolitan District Court, faced three summonses of failing to lodge the returns in respect of imports and exports.

Under the European Communities (Intrastat) Regulations, 1993, companies involved in import/export trade are required to lodge statistical returns on a monthly basis where more than £5,000 worth of export goods or more than £100,000 worth of import goods are handled by a company per month.