WRITTEN QUESTION E-3187/01

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 November 2001)

Subject: Bush meat

Can the Commission confirm that on 6 November it received 340 000 signatures from European citizens protesting against increasing European sales of African bush meat, which represents exports of four million tonnes a year?

Does the Commission know that this meat comes from wild animals in Africa, including some that are under threat of extinction?

Is the Commission prepared to introduce an import ban on this meat or strict, controlled import quotas because otherwise certain groups of African wild animals will become extinct within ten years as a result of these exports?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2002)

The Commission confirms that a petition of 1 800 000 signatures on the bushmeat crisis was handed over to the Member of the Commission responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) at the occasion of a press conference at the Development Council on 8 November 2001.

The Commission is not aware of how the figure of four million tonnes imports, in any form of meat, is arrived at. It is not part of official statistics and the Commission is not aware of other sources either. In strictly respecting the international and Community rules on the subject of endangered species no bushmeat can legally be imported into the Community. A total of approximately 40 000 tonnes of beef from domestic species are exported each year to the Community under strict veterinary and customs surveillance in the exporting African states as well as in the Community.

Some of the species endangered by the bushmeat crisis, like gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants, are included in Annex A to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein(1) on the implementation of the Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES). The introduction into the Community of specimens or parts of derivatives of these species is strictly controlled under this regulation. Import for commercial trade of endangered species included in its Annex A is prohibited.

Under these circumstances the introduction of import quotas does not seem to offer a solution to the problem of the bushmeat crisis, which should find its remedies by actions on the ground in the countries where this activity is prevalent.

At present, the Commission finances several conservation projects in Africa in general and particularly in the Central African region which address this issue to a certain extent.

For example:

- The Ecofac Programme (Ecosystèmes Forestières Afrique Centrale) has several components in and around major protected areas to combat, control or prevent poaching.

- The project ABAC (Alternatives au Braconnage en Afrique Centrale) specifically aims to reduce poaching by making meat more regularly available on a controlled basis. This should reduce pressure on animals living in the wild.

- The project MIKE (Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants) provides information on levels and trends in the illegal killing of elephants and assesses their causes in order to inform CITES decisions and the management of habitats containing these and other threatened species in Africa. This should ultimately provide the basis for enabling sustainable management of elephants and elephant products in Africa, and thus also be helpful in combating poaching.

(1) OJ L 61, 3.3.1997.