Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the civil sanctions in the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 as a deterrent to people selling caviar illegally.

The Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 contain criminal penalties to address offences. These regulations are being revised to consolidate a number of amendments and to bring in new offences including some related to the caviar trade.

In the case of new offences related to mixing, marking, labelling and record keeping for caviar, the Government considers a civil sanction is a proportionate response. Existing offences relating to the trade in caviar will continue to be enforced through criminal sanctions.