Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
George Eustice
Main Page: George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)Department Debates - View all George Eustice's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill
George Eustice ExcerptsFriday 17th March 2023
(1 year, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill 2022-23 Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Consideration of Bill Amendments as at 17 March 2023 - (17 Mar 2023)
George Eustice
My hon. Friend makes an important point. There is cross-party support for the Bill, with Members on both sides of the House wanting it to proceed well in the other place. Does she agree that, now that this concession has been made—a generous concession, I might add—to curtail significantly the regulation-making powers in clause 2, there is nothing for their lordships to object to? Normally, they object to so-called Henry VIII powers, but those have been completely removed, so it should be possible to expedite the progress of the Bill in the other place.
Trudy Harrison
My right hon. Friend is correct. We have accepted this amendment because we want the Bill to progress in not only the Commons but the Lords.
The import ban will cover all species listed in annexes A and B of the wildlife trade regulations, broadly aligned with appendices 1 and 2 of CITES. That extends to around 6,000 species, including those mentioned in the House.
I take the opportunity to recognise again the concerns that have been raised about Northern Ireland, and the risk, referred to by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), that Northern Ireland would become a backdoor. He queried how we would make progress and clearly set out that he very much wants to be part of the UK. Let me reassure the House that we will do everything we possibly can to ensure that Northern Ireland will not be a backdoor for so-called trophies from endangered species to enter Scotland, England or Wales. Northern Ireland will not be a stepping stone for imports to Great Britain.
In Committee, we discussed the workings of the Bill, and how it operated alongside the Northern Ireland protocol and the UK internal market. Since then, the Government have published the Windsor framework.