Trophy-hunting is abhorrent, and I support measures to ban imports into our country.
The Government too takes the welfare of all animals extremely seriously and is committed to strengthening and supporting long-term conservation of animals both internationally and at home.
So, in 2019 the Government held a consultation on the scale and impact of the import and export of hunting trophies. Over 44,000 responses to the call for evidence and consultation were received and 85 per cent of responses were in favour of further action. The Government’s response to the consultation set out plans to ban imports of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species.
Following this, the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was introduced to Parliament as a Private Member’s Bill in June 2022. The Bill will ban the import of hunting trophies for specific species and includes a power to add or remove species from the scope of the ban which will ensure that the Bill remains comprehensive and can achieve its aims.
The Government fully supports this Bill, and I welcome that this Bill continues to make good progress and I am pleased it passed the report and third reading stage on Friday 17 March.