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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with counterparts in other countries on the development of a joint strategy to tackle wildlife crime and the illegal wildlife trade.

We recognise that international cooperation is essential to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The UK has supported strategic join-up with other countries. For example, in 2018, the UK convened the largest ever global IWT conference at which 65 countries signed up to the London Declaration, which calls on the international community to act together to support and build urgent collective action against the IWT.

We work with international partners directly through supporting initiatives to combat the IWT. This includes Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, work with G7 Ministers to agree priorities and commitments for tackling the IWT, Ministerial and official contact with counterparts in countries affected by the IWT, and through joint initiatives under relevant international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Financial Action Task Force.