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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's policy will be on supporting further protection through an uplisting of (a) elephants, (b) rhinos and (c) lions at the forthcoming CITES Conference of the Parties in September 2016.

Proposals on the listing protection of 60 species have been submitted to the 17^th Conference of Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Uplisting proposals for elephants and lions will be discussed but there is no proposal on rhinoceroses, which are already generally subject to the highest level of protection.

All these proposals will be assessed against the scientific criteria for listings set out in the Convention and, where justified, the UK will advocate further protection to support the survival of endangered species. This includes in negotiations with the other Member States of the EU to ensure our positions on proposals are taken into account before the final negotiating position for the EU and its Member States is agreed.