“At the last General Election we stood on a manifesto commitment to ban imports of hunting trophies of endangered animals. The House of Commons passing this legislation marks an important moment in ensuring that this pledge to support conservation becomes a reality,” Smith said in a statement. “I am grateful to the Government for supporting my Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill and I look forward to it now progressing through the House of Lords.”
“Our country does not want to be part of a trade in the body parts of endangered species,” continued Smith. “The Commons sent this message loud and clear.”
The Bill would ban the import of trophies hunted from around 6,000 species including lions, elephants, rhinos, and polar bears. Tragically, under current rules, hunters from the UK who travel the world selfishly killing endangered species, are allowed to bring their so-called “trophies” back to the UK.
“It follows the government’s world-leading Ivory Act which came into force last year, introducing a near total ban on the import, export, and dealing of items containing elephant ivory in the UK. We will also be setting out measures in due course on whether to extend that ban to other ivory bearing species,” noted a statement by the UK government.
“This is a pivotal moment in delivering one of our key manifesto commitments on international conservation and animal welfare,” stated International Biodiversity Minister, Trudy Harrison. “Using an internationally agreed list of species, this will play an important part in helping reverse the decline of wildlife across the world. I look forward to it becoming an Act of Parliament.”
Please find the full text and video of Smith’s speech during report stage HEREand third reading HERE.
