Defra confirms lead ammunition ban timetable in sentience response

Defra has confirmed the lead ammunition ban timetable, restating in a new policy paper that the sale and use of lead shot and of large-calibre lead bullets for live quarry shooting end on 1 April 2029. The response to the Animal Sentience Committee, published on 31 July, also reveals the committee has urged ministers to consider licensing as a route to restricting lead in airgun pellets.

What are the lead ammunition deadlines?

The response, Defra’s formal reply to the committee’s report of 12 March, sets out the timetable now fixed in law. The REACH (Amendment) Regulations 2026 came into force on 1 April 2026, writing the restriction into UK REACH.

From 1 April 2028, lead bullets must not be used at outdoor shooting ranges unless the range has what the response calls “effective lead risk management measures in place” and meets specific information requirements.

From 1 April 2029, the placing on the market and use of lead shot will not be permitted, and the same applies to large-calibre lead bullets for live quarry shooting. Elite athletes, as defined in the legislation, keep a conditional exemption for lead shot. Lead in airgun ammunition is out of scope of the restriction.

Will non-lead ammunition kill as cleanly?

The committee, which advises the Government on how policy affects animals as sentient beings, warned that if non-lead ammunition is adopted without changes in shooting practice there may be “a reduction in lethality” and in welfare in the field.

Defra’s answer rests on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which ran the consultations behind the restriction. The HSE concluded that “reductions in lethality can be avoided if hunters follow best practice, as demonstrated by the Forestry Commission’s successful shift to non-lead ammunition”. The response adds that Denmark has applied a total ban on lead shot for all hunting since 1996.

Notably, the Government does not commit to producing guidance itself. “We will be monitoring the development and dissemination of guidance by the sector,” the response says, leaving shooter education on the changeover with the shooting organisations.

What about the humane despatch of livestock?

The committee questioned whether a three-year transition is long enough for those who use rifles for the euthanasia of livestock. Defra points out that the Lead Ammunition Group recommended three years to the HSE, which extended the bullet transition from its original 18 months, and that the Humane Slaughter Association publicly welcomed the decision.

Could airgun pellets be restricted next?

Airgun ammunition sits wholly outside the UK REACH restriction. But the committee has recommended that officials and ministers “consider the potential benefits of licensing in order to facilitate a route to restricting lead in airgun ammunition”.

Defra’s reply neither endorses nor rejects the idea. It notes only that the committee “acknowledges that Defra cannot deliver these changes as licensing powers for firearms reside with the Home Office”. Any move on lead pellets would therefore be a Home Office matter, and airgun shooters will want to watch where that recommendation lands.

What happens next

The 2028 range requirements and the 2029 deadlines are fixed; nothing in the response changes a date. The practical work now is preparation: cartridge and ammunition choices, load testing and zeroing well before April 2029, and the sector guidance Defra says it will be monitoring. The full response can be read on the gov.uk website, linked below.