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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Trade Policy on 14 February (HC217140), what assessment they have made of the merits of banning the importation of (1) fur, and (2) foie gras, after the UK's departure from the EU.

The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare.

All current EU regulations banning imports of cat and dog fur and of seal products from commercial hunts, as well as controls on products from endangered species and from inhumane trapping, will be retained when the UK leaves the EU.

Once we have left the EU there will be an opportunity to strengthen welfare regulations further as part of our commitment to remaining a world leader on this issue. This includes consideration of controls on imports, including in relation to products such as foie gras and farmed fur where domestic production has already been banned.