§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why he is prepared to allow imports of turtle meat from Cayman turtle farms to enter Great Britain, in the light of the United States Federal case against Cayman turtle farms.
§ Mr. MonroThe import of turtle meat from Cayman turtle farms is governed by the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976. The green turtle is listed under appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species—CITES—and its import is governed by the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976. Cayman turtle farm turtles are captive-bred, which means that they are treated as if they were listed on appendix II of 35W CITES—the object of which is to monitor trade—and therefore may be imported under licence. The United States imposes a complete ban on the import of green turtle products irrespective of whether they fulfil CITES definition of captive-bred.