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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning shark fin imports.

The UK has a strong track record in marine conservation. We successfully led the charge to ban shark finning across the EU, and we continue to press for stronger international controls. When sharks are caught we support the EU position of landing the full body.

While we are a member of the EU it is not possible to introduce additional restrictions on the import of shark fins. When we leave the EU there will be an opportunity to consider the case for going further than current arrangements, consistent with our World Trade Organisation obligations.