§ 1. Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of seizures made by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise of endangered species and products during the last 12 months. [4856]
§ The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Phillip Oppenheim)In the financial year from 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise seized 4,374 live animals, 12,178 parts of derivatives of endangered animals species and 2,748 plants. In the first half of the current financial year, Customs and Excise has seized 20,936 live animals, 4,446 parts of derivatives and 89 plants. The dramatic increase in the live animal figure is explained by two individual seizures of 10,000 medicinal leeches.
§ Mr. BanksThose are terrible figures, although the whole House will congratulate Customs and Excise on its vigilance in seizing the items. I realise, of course, that the Minister is something of an endangered species himself, but does he agree that those who trade and traffic in endangered species are among the worst criminals on earth? They are even worse than drug traffickers, because their vile trade threatens whole species. What additional resources will the Minister make available to Customs and Excise? What particular support has he given to Europewide initiatives? Is there something we can do about the appallingly low level of fine that is imposed on traffickers who say that they did not realise that what they brought in was an endangered species? Surely we must do far more.
§ Mr. OppenheimI agree with many of the sentiments that the hon. Gentleman expresses. I personally consider the illegal trade in endangered species to be particularly horrible. Its detection and stamping out are among the most crucial and important of the roles of Customs and Excise.
In response to the other part of the hon. Gentleman's question, he may say that Tory Members of Parliament with majorities such as mine are an endangered species, but so apparently is the species known as socialist red in tooth and claw, which is how he used to like to characterise himself. However, I see that his new habitat is the director's box at Stamford Bridge: perhaps he has come over all aspirational and has sold out to new Labour's mobile phoneys. Either way, we endangered species should stick together. I take his comments very seriously and I entirely agree with him.