§ Mr. HeppellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors underlay the decision not to implement EC regulation 3254/91 in the United Kingdom on 1 January. [22885]
796W
§ Mr. ClappisonI have been asked to reply.
The 1991 leghold traps regulation requires the Commission to determine which countries have met the conditions to import furs into the Community. Since this has not been done, and the necessary implementing measures have not been adopted, there is some doubt as to whether member states would be acting lawfully if they attempted to implement a fur import ban on 1 January 1996. In view of this, and the absence of routine controls on intra-Community trade, the Government reluctantly concluded that it would not be appropriate to implement the ban.