23. jun 2017. This week, at Wednesday in the ‘EU Scientific Review Group’ and Thursday in the ‘Group of Experts of the Competent CITES Management Authorities’ discussed a German proposal that could lead to serious restrictions on imports of hunting trophies of non treated CITES species in the EU. The Danish representation is against the proposal.
If the German proposal is adopted, it will require that all hunters in the EU in the future must have import licenses for imports of untreated Annex B species to EU countries. But what’s worse, the proposal will allow EU countries to ban the import of these species simply by refusing to issue permits.
SCI Nordic Chapter support the Danish hunting association which, of course, had been closely involved with their cooperation partners on the international hunting policy area, FACE, Nordisk Jægersamvirke, SCI Nordic Chapter and CIC. The Danish hunting association was in close contact with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, as the German proposal could have serious consequences for European hunters, says the Danish Confederation’s Vice President, Henrik Frost Rasmussen, and continues:
“We are very pleased that Denmark, represented by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, opposes this proposal as it will impose more stringent requirements than the current EU rules for Annex B hunting trophies, which are already stricter than the provisions of the Convention on International Trade with Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
We find it simply unreasonable that time after time, obstacles are made to our legitimate interest. Germany’s proposal is designed to please the antis instead of looking at the positive impact of trophy hunting on nature preservation, says Henrik Frost Rasmussen, adding:
– Of course, we will follow the case with our national and international partners, as well as to continue the close dialogue with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, as we can not accept any proposals of the kind that merely impose obstacles in the way of hunting and which could mean a reduction of revenue in the countries where the trophy hunt takes place, to the detriment of the conservation of both wildlife and its habitats.”
