Caviare ban looms as black market grows

Top hotels and restaurants could be faced with a ban on caviare if measures put in place last year to stem black market trade prove ineffective.

All but one of the 25 known species of sturgeon face extinction, say experts, and illegal trade is a major factor in the crisis. Since last April, trade in caviare has been regulated by an international treaty which means all exports require a permit.

But pressure groups claim the measures are not working.

A spokesman for the World Wide Fund for Nature said: "There hasn't been a serious attempt to make this [treaty] work and the illegal trade is still going on. If it continues, the only way of enforcing the regulations is to ban the trade."

John Joseph, regional manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said he would support a ban on imports. "There's a lot of pressure on the caviare-producing countries to control exports, but because there's a desperate need for foreign exchange, the former Soviet Union countries are not willing to do that."

Greenpeace believes the permit system has not been properly developed and implemented and that poaching is still not under control. While its official position is that businesses should not buy any caviare without a permit, campaigners say that in real terms this means "keep your hands off the stuff in most cases".

Pressure is also growing in other European countries. Last month in Germany there were cross-party calls for an import ban but, because of international trade agreements, any ban would have to be Europe-wide.

by David Shrimpton