I am a passionate believer in high standards of animal welfare, and I’m proud of the fact that the UK is a world leader in this field. That’s exactly as it should be.
By way of background, I was one of a group of backbenchers that campaigned to increase the penalties for people who abuse animals from six months in prison to five years. I also spoke out in favour of a ban on the ivory trade, later announced by the Government. These two measures alone were hailed by the RSPCA at the time as representing “a fortnight of incredible news for animal welfare in the UK”.
The Government is committed to upholding our world-leading standards of animal welfare. The Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare sets out the Government’s vision to introduce a range of world-leading reforms to improve the welfare and conservation of animals at home and abroad. I welcome these proposals and look forward to their implementation.
Fur farming has been banned in the UK for 20 years, and there are restrictions on the import of certain skin and fur products into the UK. The import of fur from endangered species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is banned, as are imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods that are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards.
On the question of banning all imports of fur products, I welcome the Government’s decision to seek views on animal welfare through a recent call for evidence, which will be used to inform any future decisions on the fur trade.
I am aware that 30,000 responses were received from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. Ministers are reviewing currently reviewing the evidence, with a summary of responses to be published soon.