Animal Welfare Bill

The hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) moved new clause 2, which was supported by Conservative Front Benchers, and we take the issue seriously. Most of his speech dwelled on the problem of the trade in endangered species, but he will appreciate that the Animal Welfare Bill is not the best place to deal with the matter. CITES restricts the trade in endangered species, and if the trade is illegal, then it is illegal on the internet. I know that the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight), has held constructive talks with Home Office Ministers about what more can be done to tighten up the hon. Gentleman’s particular area of concern. The regulatory impact assessment makes it clear that we intend to address the issue, but we are not prepared to allow ourselves to be tied to the hon. Gentleman’s time scale of making regulations within one year. If we were to tie ourselves to his time scale but were unable to achieve the objective, there is a danger that we would be unable to do anything at all. I hope that the hon. Gentleman accepts that point and withdraws his new clause.