The British Government has worked very closely with all the British Overseas Territories (OTs) to surface their concerns and interests in relation to EU Exit since the referendum. Given Saint Helena's association with the EU through the 2013 Overseas Association Decision (OAD), it currently benefits from non-reciprocal tariff-free quota-free access to the EU's goods market. In a no-deal scenario, Saint Helena may lose this preferential access.

We continue to support all the territories so that their businesses are prepared to trade with the EU, if necessary, as a non-EU associated territory. The UK Government has also made provisions in the Cross Border Taxation Act for all EU associated territories to retain tariff and quota-free access to the UK market.

We are committed to negotiating a good deal for the Overseas Territories as part of our negotiations with the EU on the future partnership.

The UK is committed to the conservation and protection of wildlife. We work closely with other countries to promote wildlife conservation through our membership of international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES is an international agreement between 183 Parties, including China, Vietnam and India, to promote sustainable trade in wildlife and to ensure that no plant or animal species becomes extinct through overtrading.

CITES prohibits nearly all international trade in wild caught specimens of species considered to be threatened with extinction. These Appendix I species include pangolins, most elephant and rhino populations, and some big cat species. Species not currently threatened with extinction, but for which uncontrolled trade would not be sustainable, are included on CITES Appendix II and can only be traded internationally with the correct permits. Permits will only be granted if trade is considered not to be detrimental to the survival of the species.

Domestic trade is regulated by national laws and falls outside the scope of CITES. CITES cannot oblige Parties to prohibit domestic trade but it can encourage them to do so. In 2016 Parties were encouraged to close their domestic ivory markets.

In 2016 Dr Thérèse Coffey MP met the Chinese minister and attended the CITES Conference of the Parties, where she had further meetings including with the Vietnamese minister. The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP represented the UK government at the 3^rd global Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) conference in Hanoi in 2016 and had bilateral meetings with Vietnam and China. Last October the UK hosted the 4^th global IWT conference in London. Sixty-five of the seventy countries which attended, including China, India, Vietnam and the UK, reaffirmed their commitment to counter illegal trade and declared what further action they will be taking. The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP and Dr Thérèse Coffey MP met with a number of countries at the conference including Burma, China, Japan, Indonesia and Nepal.

In 2018, the British Embassy in Beijing ran a highly visible campaign, “End Wildlife Crime”, with public events delivered across China, some in conjunction with the local government authorities, and attended by 19,250 members of the public.

Embassies and High Commissions in many Asian countries play a key role in raising IWT issues with host governments. Officials and ministers discuss IWT with these countries in the margins of international meetings and during visits to the region. Most recently the Rt Hon Mark Field MP discussed IWT with senior members of the Vietnamese Government on a visit to the country.

China has taken positive action on closing its domestic ivory market, co-hosting a session on combatting the ivory trade at the 2018 IWT conference. However, last year China decided to adjust its 1993 legislation to allow the use of farmed tiger and rhino products in traditional medicine; following discussions with the UK and others the Chinese Government is reviewing that decision. We regularly discuss IWT with the Chinese authorities and will continue to raise our concerns with them.

The Ivory Bill will enact a ban in commercial dealing in elephant ivory in the UK that could directly or indirectly fuel the poaching of elephants. There is a delegated power within the Bill to allow the Secretary of State to extend the Bill to cover other ivory bearing species, such as the hippopotamus, through a regulation. The Government has committed to consulting on extending the ban as soon as possible. This consultation is necessary in order to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), otherwise the whole ban would be put at risk.

No assessment has been made of the impact of the proposed cull of hippos to be conducted by trophy hunters on the Luangwa River in Zambia on the ban on the trade in ivory contained in the Ivory Bill. The Government has announced it will consult as soon as possible on extending the ivory ban to hippos. This consultation will allow an assessment to be made of all the appropriate evidence.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which the United States is a Party, the import of hunting trophies of elephants and other endangered species is permitted subject to strict controls. We have not made an assessment of the decision by the United States.

The Prime Minister and President Trump discussed a range of the many international and foreign policy issues on which the US and UK co-operate closely.

The UK is leading global efforts to protect elephants. On 3 April, the Government confirmed that it will introduce a ban on the sale of ivory items of all ages in the UK with narrow and limited exemptions. Primary legislation will be required to implement this ban and the Government will introduce a Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows.

This proposed ban will be the toughest in Europe and amongst the toughest in the world. It will send the strongest possible message that the UK does not consider commercial trade in any ivory that could fuel poaching to be acceptable.

The ban will complement other action that the Government is taking to tackle elephant poaching and the broader illegal wildlife trade. We are investing £26 million globally to tackle the systemic issues driving the illegal wildlife trade, and the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund has already provided £14 million for 47 projects around the world. This includes supporting key countries to develop National Ivory Action Plans.

The Government will also continue to call on other countries to take action on addressing the illegal wildlife trade. We will be bringing global leaders back to London in October 2018 for the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference, working with our international partners to tackle this criminal trade. This will include taking action to protect elephants.

The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to eradicate the market in rhino horn and ensure the survival of rhinos in the wild. We have been working closely with international partners to agree tough measures to protect rhinos through our involvement in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Since 2001 strict measures have been in place in the UK on both the re-export and sale of rhino horn and products derived from it and since 2010, the UK has not authorised the sale of, or other commercial trade in, rhino horn except in exceptional circumstances. The UK has worked with other EU Member States to take similar action to the UK which led to new European Commission guidance to this effect.

At the CITES Standing Committee in November last year, the UK was again invited to chair the Inter-sessional Working Group on Rhinoceroses to evaluate Parties’ implementation of the Resolution on Conservation and Trade of African and Asian Rhinoceroses which includes measures to prevent and combat rhinoceros poaching and trafficking in rhinoceros horn. The Working Group will report its findings to the 70th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee which will take place in October this year.

Poaching is one of the main threats for the survival of rhinos. Combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), including eradicating the market for rhino horn, is a priority for the UK Government. This is why we are investing £26 million globally and working with international partners to tackle the systemic issues driving IWT. The UK will bring global leaders back to London in October 2018 to make sure that IWT stays at the top of the political agenda, that participants deliver on existing commitments and to instigate new partnerships for action.

The Governments of both China and Vietnam participated at Ministerial level in the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade on 12 and 13 February 2014. They joined the other participating countries in agreeing to the London Conference Declaration. In this, Governments have committed to support the existing CITES commercial prohibition on international trade in elephant ivory until the survival of elephants in the wild is no longer threatened by poaching. They have also committed to taking a wide range of actions to reduce the demand for wildlife products, including ivory, and to agreeing for the first time to renounce the use of any products from species threatened with extinction. We very much welcome this strong signal by China and Vietnam of their commitment to join the rest of the international community in tackling the scourge of the illegal trade in ivory and other wildlife products.

In the margins of the Conference I had constructive meetings with both Forestry Vice Minister Jianlong Zhang of China and Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Ha Cong Tuan of Vietnam to discuss the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade and the action needed to tackle the problem. I hope to visit Vietnam in the near future to continue this constructive dialogue.

We will also fund two projects in Vietnam which applied through the 2013-2014 Darwin Initiative Funding Round, at a total cost of just over £0.5m. These will be supported from the £10m of new funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade, announced on 23 December 2013 by the Secretaries of State for Environment and International Development. One project is focused on combating wildlife trafficking by cutting out the ‘middle man’. The other will support action to reduce demand for rhino horn.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) the importation ofhunting trophies is allowed for personal, non-commercial purposes, subject

to certain conditions. This issue was considered at the recent CITES conference of parties held in Bangkok. The EU proposed removal of the derogation for all appendix II species, including lions, but the parties to the convention decided to do so only for the export and re-export of elephant ivory and rhino horn.

The UK has not undertaken any specific exercise to estimate the amount of trade in lion products but is concerned about the conservation of lions in the wild. We funded a conference in March 2012 in Johannesburg

at which a number of lion range states discussed the conservation needs and status of the African lion. The level of protection afforded to lions under CITES is currently under review by Kenya and Namibia, on behalf of the CITES Animals Committee, in liaison with other lion range states. We are waiting for the results of that review with interest. We are keen to continue working with other CITES parties and relevant non-governmental organisations to ensure the long-term survival of this important species.