§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are the names and locations of those dealers and pet shops licensed to trade in frogs;
(2) what is the means by which he monitors the sale of frogs by licensed dealers and pet shops;
(3) what is the number of frogs sold by each licensed dealer and pet shop and the source from which the frogs are obtained.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMy Department collects information on the extent of the trade in frogs from returns submitted by licensed traders. Licences issued by my Department do not impose any limitation on the numbers of frogs that may be sold, but traders are required to provide six-monthly returns giving details of the numbers sold and the sources from which they were obtained. The information is passed to the Nature Conservancy Council as data for the quinquennial review of species.
The information from these returns is summarised as follows:
European Community directive banning the commercial import of harp and hooded seal pup skins and products when it expires in September.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Government remain concerned about conserving seals. Conscious of public anxiety, we will be discussing a range of options for the extension of the existing ban with our European colleagues in the coming months, taking account of all the views that have been expressed.
In addition, the Government will support a Swedish proposal to include hooded seal in appendix II of the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), which will be considered at the fifth conference of parties to the convention which begins next week. This would provide a measure of permanent protection for all hooded seals—adults and their pups—because there can be no trade in a species listed in appendix II except under strict licensing controls.