[holding answer 21 May 2007]: Bushmeat is covered by HMRC’s powers to deal with animal products that are imported outside the veterinary checks regime under the products of animal origin (“POAO”) regulations. These powers are limited to imports into Great Britain; responsibility in Northern Ireland rests with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland.
Bushmeat of animals listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (“CITES”) may also breach the restrictions on import created by Council Regulation 338/97 and Commission Regulation 865/2006.
HMRC’s approach is to deter and detect illegal imports of products of animal origin from entering Great Britain, continuing to target traffic from high risk countries based on risk assessment and intelligence.
In order to discharge this role HMRC have:
deployed extra front line detection staff supported by detector dogs. All HMRC's detection staff are deployed flexibly according to risk and include POAO among their multi-functional responsibilities.
undertaken a range of publicity and awareness raising initiatives to inform travellers and the UK public of the regulations. These include:
distribution of leaflets at points of entry, including leaflets produced in 10 languages;
high visibility posters displayed at major ports and airports;
advertising on ticket wallets issued by travel agents;
a press and radio publicity campaign in Nigeria;
videos to be shown on selected inbound international flights; and
information in the ABTA members’ handbook.
worked in partnership with DEFRA in publicising the rules relating to POAO, for example a 60-second television filler advert; and
reported a number of cases for prosecution.
HMRC records POAO seizures as “bushmeat” where this was how the owners described the meat to customs officials. In order to test how much seized meat might have come from CITES-listed endangered species, HMRC and DEFRA jointly sponsored a study by Wildlife DNA Services Ltd to identify species composition.
The summary report is available at the following web address:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/resprog/findings/bushmeat-summary.pdf
Further information on the Government’s work regarding illegal imports of products of animal origin is contained in DEFRA’s annual reports. The latest report is available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali/pdf/review0405-0306.pdf and is also in the House Library.