Minister: hunting trophy import ban when parliamentary time allows

The Government will ban hunting trophy imports “when parliamentary time allows” and aims to introduce a Bill “within this Parliament”, environment minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter told MPs in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, 11 November, while rejecting calls for an immediate moratorium. The debate, secured by Clive Efford, Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst, also heard a call to ban the export of Scottish red stag trophies, which took the argument from African safaris to the hill.

What did the minister commit to?

Ms Riddell-Carpenter, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said: “We do not have the legal powers to stop trophy imports without primary legislation.” She added that the Government needed primary legislation “to ensure that we bring in a ban that is defensible and robust”, that the timetable for any Bill “will depend on wider parliamentary scheduling”, and that Defra wanted “to continue to engage with stakeholders representing different perspectives”.

Sean Woodcock, Labour MP for Banbury, told the debate that 41 import permits had been issued since the July 2024 general election, including 21 for African elephant, five for lion, four for hippopotamus and six for bear, with single permits for crocodile, giraffe, scimitar-horned oryx, Marco Polo sheep and leopard. As ShootingUK reported in October, the permit figures first surfaced in written answers that left the timetable for a ban unanswered.

Why Scottish stalking entered the debate

Irene Campbell, Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, said Scotland “still exports trophy items, which I find upsetting”, and that in 2024 a rural community in Zimbabwe had imported a Scottish stag’s head. She said: “In Scotland, a red stag can be shot and exported for £500 to £1,250.” Although she accepted that exports were not the subject of the debate, she said “we need to look at banning exports from the UK” and that deer at home deserved protection as much as animals abroad.

No member answered her point, and the minister did not mention deer, stalking or exports. For Scottish sporting estates the remark matters: overseas guests who stalk a stag and take the head home are part of the lettings market that funds deer management, and an export ban would reach them directly.

Dr Neil Hudson, shadow Defra minister and Conservative MP for Epping Forest, said the previous Government’s 2019 consultation had found 84% support for a ban and urged ministers to say how and when they would act. Mr Efford said the phrase “when parliamentary time allows” was “not good enough” and closed by telling the Government: “The time has come for the Government to stand by those people.”

What happens next

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, a presentation Bill from David Reed, Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, remains on the Commons order paper with no date for its next stage. Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim, tabled a written question on 11 November asking when Defra’s stakeholder engagement will end and legislation will follow; the answer is due within the week. The full debate is on the Hansard website.