I welcome the regulations and place on record my support for CITES. I understand that all the retained EU law will be contained in one place once the regulations are adopted, which I welcome. I share my noble friend Lord Randall’s concern that two separate regimes will operate, one for Great Britain and one for Northern Ireland. It begs the question of what happens in the event of species covered by the regulations moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after 1 January.
I understand that the criminal offences which flow from a breach of the regulations are fairly substantial: up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Can my noble friend confirm that these criminal offences are kept under constant review and say what the mechanism is for that? Are they brought to Parliament for such a review? Also, what happens to the fines? Are they hypothecated and put to good future use for endangered species, or are they just put into a central pot?
My noble friend the Minister was rather dismissive of the report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, but I will refer in particular to paragraph 57, which states:
“We particularly note that, as highlighted by ClientEarth, a specific power for the Secretary of State to prohibit the holding of specimens, including live animals, is removed. While Defra regards a direct replacement of this power as unnecessary, we consider that holding or trading animals may pose a risk of spreading disease.”
I agree. Would my noble friend like to take this opportunity to respond fully to that concern, which is a little broader than he considered?
As the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, mentioned, Defra was a little dismissive in its response to the questions raised by ClientEarth in the context of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee report. I want to place on record my regret that, having left the EU, we will no longer participate in, or be bound by, EU structures, including the EU Scientific Review Group, under our CITES regulations applicable in Great Britain. Does my noble friend not recognise that the EU Scientific Review Group performs a notable amount of work, and is it not something that we would be like to be associated with, albeit loosely? Was he perhaps unaware that, at one stage, a Scottish scientist was the chief scientific adviser to the European Commission? I would like to commend her work in this regard.
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