§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they regard goods arriving at British ports and airports and which are entered with customs for transit, as being "imported" and "exported" within the meaning of the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976; and whether they will ensure that all such goods are licensed under that Act.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of the ENVIRONMENT (Baroness Birk)It is not the practice to require licences under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 for goods entered with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise for transit or transhipment. The Washington Convention, to which the Act gives effect, specifically exempts such specimens from the restrictions relating to the regulation of trade in endangered or threatened species. Nevertheless, as was stated when the Bill was before Parliament, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, in consultation with the Department of the Environment, would take appropriate action in any case where reliable and timely information was received that a particular consignment had been exported in contravention of the convention.