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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2019 to Question 236523 on Polar Bears, what progress he has made on holding a roundtable discussion with organisations from all sides of the debate on whether the six species that are protected by stricter trophy hunting import controls at EU level will be maintained or extended in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

Imports of hunting trophies into the UK are subject to strict controls under the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations, which apply in the UK. All applications for permits to import hunting trophies into the UK are assessed to make sure that the import would not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species or on the extent of the territory occupied by the relevant population of the species. In addition, the applicant must provide documentary evidence, in the form of an export permit that demonstrates that the specimens have been obtained in accordance with the legislation on the protection of the species concerned.

There are import suspensions in place for countries where hunting of the species concerned is not considered to be sustainable. The need for any further suspensions is kept under active review.

The Secretary of State held a roundtable with stakeholders last month on this issue.