§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what conclusions his scientific advisers have reached concerning evidence from the Indonesian authorities relating to the conservation and population status of lizards and pythons in that country; and if he will make a statement;
(2) when the next meeting of the EC Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) committee will take place; if the United Kingdom delegation will seek a reservation in respect of the trade of those lizard and python species whose import into the EC has been temporarily banned; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanThe question of the temporary ban on the import into the EC of certain species from Indonesia was discussed at a meeting of EC member states at the conference of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species parties in Kyoto in March. The Indonesian delegation to the conference had agreed that arrangements should be made urgently for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources to work with them to assess the sustainable yield of indigenous 197W species in trade, and draw up quotas based on the results of this work. No such quotas have yet been produced for the United Kingdom scientific authority to consider.
The next meeting of the EC CITES committee is taking place today. Until the Community decides that the ban may be lifted, there is no question of the United Kingdom taking unilateral action to resume trade with Indonesia in the species concerned.