I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Ivory Act 2018 (Meaning of “Ivory” and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024. Let me begin, Mrs Harris, by saying what a joy it is to serve under your chairwomanship and how great it is to see you. This statutory instrument amends the Ivory Act 2018 in order to extend the prohibition on dealing in ivory from an elephant to include ivory from the following four magnificent species: common hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal and sperm whale. The walrus was included in the original consultation, but was removed following further analysis of the Windsor framework implications. This SI does not include the walrus, as it will continue to be protected under existing regulations on trade in seal products. The UK is committed to protecting those species whose conservation status may be threatened by trade in their ivory. All four of these species are listed under the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora—CITES—which regulates their trade internationally. The hippopotamus and sperm whale are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list. This instrument seeks to help conserve populations of the four additional species. The Act will prohibit commercial activities concerning trade in their ivories in the UK. That will prevent transactions involving items made of ivory from these species from contributing to markets that create a demand for ivory, driving poaching and the illegal trade in ivory. Extending the ban to these four species will also make compliance with and enforcement of the Act simpler and more effective, and reduce opportunities for laundering ivory. It sends a strong signal that ivory should not be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol. Supporting Government in this important work are nine prescribed institutions: the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at Oxford; Glasgow Life Museums; the Horniman Museum and Gardens; Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester; the National Maritime Museum; National Museums Scotland; the Royal Armouries; the University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden; and the Victoria and Albert Museum here in London. This instrument amends the schedule—“Prescribed Institutions”—to the Ivory Prohibitions (Exemptions) (Process and Procedure) Regulations 2022, to correct the names of some of the aforementioned institutions prescribed under the Act. Finally, this instrument amends the Ivory Prohibition (Civil Sanctions) Regulations 2022 to make consistent the references to the service of notices relating to civil sanctions. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee—as the Whip taps his pen.

Let me begin with the warthog—I did not think that I had anything to say on the warthog, but I do indeed, thanks to my excellent officials, who have travelled down from York today. The 2021 consultation set out options on extending the Act to species where threats to their conservation status could be exacerbated by trade in their ivory. Neither species of warthog is listed under the convention—they are not under CITES—and both are classified as “species of least concern” on the IUCN red list.

I give the hon. Lady the undertaking that we will watch our warthogs. I am happy to continue the dialogue, and I thank her for making that point. As described earlier, extending the Act to the four species demonstrates UK leadership, makes the existing ban more effective and adds protections for those four species. The draft regulations are part of a comprehensive package of UK leadership to tackle the illegal wildlife trade and to reduce poverty, including—to the point made by the hon. Member for Epping Forest—through our illegal wildlife trade challenge fund, which has allocated £57 million to 173 projects in 60 countries. Those projects are reducing demand for illegal wildlife products, strengthening law enforcement, establishing effective legal frameworks and promoting sustainable livelihoods. It is important to state that when there is trade in illegal wildlife products, there is often trade in other illegal goods—usually, such gangs do not content themselves with pillaging our abundant natural world. Let me turn to the walrus, and why it was not included. Under the Seal Products Regulations 2010, which were carried over from the European Union, seal products, including walrus ivory, can be imported and placed on the UK market for sale only in limited circumstances and subject to strict conditions. People may bring seal and walrus products into Great Britain only if they qualify under the Inuit and other indigenous communities exemption—obviously, in the Canadian Arctic, in particular, those are important sources of hard-cash income for communities—and if they have a seal catch certificate. The certificate is an attestation document proving that the item is exempt and that the seal products are certified as coming from a traditional hunt carried out by Inuit or other indigenous communities, and contribute to the subsistence of the community and consider the welfare of the animal.

I undertake to keep that watching brief. On musical instruments, I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman, but this measure is about the trade in ivory and what is going on.

Let me talk about global leadership. We are determined to protect these species, whose conservation status may be threatened by the trade in their ivory. That is why we are determined to move forward with this statutory instrument as soon as possible, recognising our long-standing support for strengthening the ban on ivory sales and ensuring that the UK is seen as a global leader in animal conservation. In future, these four species will be afforded the same protections that already exist for elephants, and my officials have already commenced work on the online ivory registration service to add to these species. I want to let the Committee know a bit about the species. At the moment, the UK is a net exporter of ivory from these four species, which fuels the global demand. We had 20 imports of the hippopotamus species into the UK between 2013 and 2022, and 29 exports from the UK. We had one export of killer whale, 20 exports of narwhal and 103 exports of sperm whale, so, even under the ban, we were still exporting these species. That fuels the trade, so this is an important loophole that we are trying to close today. A number of countries have introduced ivory bans and closed their domestic markets for ivory, including China and the USA, which has both federal and state level bans. The EU has introduced guidance to member states, and Singapore has also introduced a ban. As the hon. Member for Epping Forest said, the UK has led, and will continue to lead the way, on conservation of these magnificent animals. As with warthog, I undertake to keep walrus under constant review. On the point that the hon. Member for Epping Forest made about whaling, we strongly oppose the hunting of all cetaceans, other than limited activities by indigenous people for clearly defined subsistence needs. The UK reaffirmed its strong support for the global moratorium on commercial whaling at the September International Whaling Commission meeting, with the Danish Government in attendance, where we co-sponsored a resolution on international legal obligations in commercial whaling. We also raised the UK’s opposition to cetacean hunting at official level in September as part of the UK-Faroe Islands fisheries inter-sessional meeting. Ministers and senior officials will continue to raise the issue with the Faroese at every appropriate opportunity.

Walrus was included in the original consultation but was later removed following further analysis of the Windsor framework implications, so it is to do with the application of EU policy in Northern Ireland. We are committed to implementing the Windsor framework in good faith and to protecting the UK internal market. Walrus is protected under the seal products regulations. Seal products, including walrus ivory, can be imported and placed on the UK market for sale only in limited circumstances and subject to strict conditions. I am sure that if we go back to the consultation response, we will be able to get the figures. If not, I undertake to write to the hon. Lady with the actual numbers for the import and export of such products. Seal products can be brought into Great Britain to be sold only if they qualify under the Inuit and other indigenous communities exemption and have a seal catch certificate. That is an attestation document that provides that the item is exempt, and that the seal products are certified as coming from a traditional hunt, carried out for the subsistence of the community, and which considers the welfare of the animal.

I said all I have to say on the warthogs earlier.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. We have committed to ensuring that future trade agreements promote the highest animal welfare standards. That was not always the case under previous trade agreements. I will come back to the hon. Gentleman’s question about museums. I mentioned in my opening speech the prescribed institutions that provide advice to the Secretary of State via the Animal and Plant Health Agency on whether an exemption certification should be granted for items that are pre-1918 and of outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historical value. There are five exemptions to the ban that apply to all species, which is why I started talking about musical instruments. The exemptions are: musical instruments made before 1975 with less than 20% ivory by volume; items made before 3 March 1947 with less than 10% ivory by volume; portrait miniatures made before 1918 with a total surface area of no more than 320 sq cm; items that a qualifying museum intends to buy or hire; and items made before 1918 that are of outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historical value. We must remember that there was a time when ivory was, for example, regularly laid on piano keyboards, used for the inlay on violins and used in gaming dice and things like that. The historical things, such as the famous walrus chess people in the British Museum, are treasures. If we are doing exchanges with other cultural institutions, we must allow those pieces to travel, but under very strict, permitted and certified exemptions. The items can be bought, sold or hired out only if they meet one of the five exemptions to the ivory ban and must be registered or certified under the relevant exemption using the digital ivory service.

That is a fascinating question. What if we go to see the birds exhibition at the Natural History Museum, see a case full of hummingbirds and wonder how many of them are still alive in the wild? I do not know the answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, but I will undertake to reply and write to him. With that, I hope that I have addressed the issues raised. May the warthog sleep safely tonight. I hope that the House will approve this instrument. I thank Committee members for their support and their diligence in returning, and I commend the draft regulations. Question put and agreed to.