In March 2022, Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for a ban on the import of hunting trophies of certain animal species protected by CITES. The resolution demanded a prohibition on the issuance of import permits for hunting trophies of all CITES Appendix I species as well as several Appendix II species. Subsequently, the resolution formed a draft law by the Minister of Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal, Zakia Khattabi, and was approved by Belgium’s Council of Ministers.
The draft law then was sent to the Council of State for its opinion, as an advisory body, which expressed its views in light of international and European legal frameworks in November 2023.
On January 9, 2024, the Chamber of Representatives’ Committee on Energy, Environment and Climate adopted the text. As the next step, the draft law soon will be discussed and decided in plenary session. As with all import bans—many of which have been proposed in Europe—SCI previously urged and continues to urge rejection of Belgium’s proposed ban.
