§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent discussions he has had with other parties to the convention on international trade in endangered species on how to clamp down on the illegal trade in rhinoceros.
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§ Mr. AtkinsAt the most recent meeting of the Standing Committee of the convention, held in Brussels in September, it was decided to put further pressure on consumer countries, especially China and Taiwan, to end all internal trade in rhino products and to bring stocks under Government control. The United Kingdom has observer status on the committee and played an active part in the discussions leading to the decisions. In addition the United Kingdom, together with our European partners, fully supported the discussion of the CITES Standing Committee to send technical and high-level delegations to rhino-horn consuming countries to assess the effectiveness of their efforts to combat illegal trade in rhino horn and to offer advice and assistance. We have contributed £5,000 towards the costs of the high-level delegation which has recently visited China and Taiwan. The Government will be represented at the Standing Committee meeting next month which will consider what further action should be taken in the light of the delegations reports.
The United Kingdom Government have taken a leading role in encouraging greater efforts to conserve rhinos. On 3 February my Department announced a grant of £60,000 towards a project co-funded by the European Commission and the Worldwide Fund for Nature to appoint a scientific officer to co-ordinate rhino conservation activities throughout Africa.