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

To ask His Majesty's Government what negotiations are taking place with the governments of (1) France, (2) Belgium and (3) the Netherlands, to designate Eurostar terminals as entry and exit points for items including musical instruments affected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); what progress they have made in any such negotiations; and, in the absence of any agreement, what steps they are taking to broaden and increase the number of ports of entry to the EU that can be used by UK musicians who are required to obtain a carnet to work in the EU.

Any specimen covered by CITES controls must be imported or exported through one of the 36 designated and operational land, sea and air Points of Entry (PoE). The full list is available at GOV.UK and kept under review.

We are working closely with Border Force, industry and our European counterparts to look at the feasibility of designating further PoE to provide additional routes for the movement of CITES items (e.g. musical instruments), including the Eurostar.

Approximately 80 countries around the world (including all EU member states) accept ATA Carnets. ATA Carnets are not a mandatory requirement for anyone temporarily moving goods between the United Kingdom and the EU, including musicians transporting their instruments. They are an optional facilitation that allows goods to be imported temporarily without the normal customs formalities (i.e. customs declarations) and import duty being paid. They allow a single document to be used for multiple countries’ customs controls. The management of EU import and export procedures is the responsibility of the customs authority of the relevant EU member state.