Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, according to TRACES, how many and what species of reptiles were imported into the UK from (a) within and (b) outside the EU in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014; and if she will make a statement.
TRACES does not hold a complete record of reptile imports into the UK because it only records consignments of species that require a CITES certificate.
Movements of reptiles from European Union (EU) Member States to the UK which do not require a CITES certificate are accompanied by a hard copy of the health certificate. However, information about these consignments is not recorded on TRACES.
The figures below refer only to those species for which a CITES licence is required. Third Country totals are not broken down into “families” as this would require each certificate to be interrogated.
Reptiles | From EU to UK in 2013 | From EU to UK in 2014 | From Third Countries to UK in 2013 | From Third Countries to UK in 2014 |
Rhynchocephalia | 4 | 0 | ||
Sauria | 2022 | 186 | ||
Serpentes | 289 | 3 | ||
Testudinata | 148 | 3035 | ||
Crocodylia | 0 | 307 | ||
Total | 2463 | 3531 | 129592 | 101592 |
The number of reptiles imported into the EU from Third Countries, taken from Eurostat is as follows:
2013- EU Member States imported 1,379,146 live reptiles from outside the EU.
2014- EU Member States imported 1,443,213 live reptiles from outside the EU.