Endangered Species (Hansard, 13 February 1997)

§ 1. Mr. Tony Banks
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to make additional resources available to Customs and Excise to combat trafficking in endangered species and products. [14169]

§ The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Phillip Oppenheim)
The control of endangered species is a priority, and one to which I give my strongest support. Customs has just increased the staffing of the specialist Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species enforcement team at Heathrow airport.
An important issue is to increase public awareness of the problem to prevent unintended imports. To that end, Customs and Excise—in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Department of the Environment—is providing an endangered species video which most, although not all, of the airlines we have asked have already agreed to show in-flight, and I hope that others will follow suit.

§ Mr. Banks
First, I pay tribute to the work of Customs and Excise in trying to stamp out the trade in endangered species and wildlife products. I also thank the Minister for his commitment to the cause.
What specific resources are made available for the training of staff so that they can recognise the products that are coming in? Will there be an increase in specifically allocated staff? Clearly, the trade is now so large and growing that we need more people doing the job. The Minister referred to the CITES team at Heathrow. Will that model be extended to other airports, such as Manchester?
Finally, what is being done to stop the illegal importation of bear bile, rhino horn and tiger bone products, which are coming into this country for traditional Chinese medicine shops and are now available in London?

§ Mr. Oppenheim
The hon. Gentleman asked a number of questions, all of them important. Each of the 14 customs regions now has an expert CITES liaison and intelligence officer. The team at Heathrow—which has just been expanded to eight people—is the only 448 dedicated team, but all other customs areas are being given training and computer-aided recognition systems so that they can recognise snake skins and other products. We wish to increase resources in that area.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned Chinese medicine, and I agree that no nation can be complacent about this matter. In addition, no nation has an unblemished record on the issue. There is a particularly serious problem worldwide with Chinese medicines and aphrodisiacs. It is sad paradox that the most populous nation on earth sometimes seems determined to wipe out the last rhino because some of its menfolk seem incapable of performing. That is sad and ironic.

§ Mr. Harry Greenway
Reverting to a serious aspect of this important question, what is my hon. Friend doing—apart from providing manpower—to educate the public about the dangers of bringing in endangered species, as this seems to be the crux of the situation?

§ Mr. Oppenheim
The Government are developing a package of leaflets, posters and videos, with the help and support of wildlife and animal welfare groups. Almost all the travel agents and tour groups that we have approached have agreed to send these out with tickets, and to send posters to their reps abroad. Most of the airlines that we have asked have agreed to show the videos on their flights, including British Airways. The only major UK airline not to have agreed yet is Virgin Airways which, when reminded, said that Mr. Branson was currently too busy to respond.