Suitable legislation or administrative regulations are in force to prohibit leghold traps except where the methods used to catch the animals listed meet internationally agreed humane trapping standards.

In Article 5(2) and (3), the Commission proposes that a restraining or killing trapping method should be considered humane even if one animal in five suffers such indicators as fracture, severance of a tendon or ligament, major periosteal abrasion, severe external haemorrhage or haemorrhage into an internal cavity, skeletal muscle degeneration, ocular damage, spinal cord injury, amputation or death.

The case against Spain concerns the Habitats Directive Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna, and the case against France concerns the Regulation on Leghold Traps Council Regulation (EEC) N° 3254/92 prohibiting the use of leghold traps in the Community and the introduction into the Community of pelts and manufactured goods of certain wild animal species originating in countries which catch them by means of leghold traps or trapping methods which do not meet international humane trapping standards

LEGHOLD TRAPS The Council held a general discussion on the problem of import into the Community of pelts and manufactured goods of certain wild animal species originating in countries where leghold traps or trapping methods are used which do not meet international humane trapping standards.

The ESC calls for: - a timetable to be established which makes it clear that negotiations with the third countries concerned are to be concluded this year (1996); - the Commission to tackle the problem of technical assistance to peoples using traditional trapping methods, to persuade them to accept and develop humane trapping methods; - negotiations to include a "transparency clause" whereby imported pelts and furs would be accompanied by a declaration indicating trapping/killing methods and the place where the animal was trapped/farmed; - the Commission, on a broader front, to undertake both to amend existing agreements with third countries and, when negotiating future agreement ...[+++]s, to include a clause providing for joint commitment and cooperation in promoting environmental protection.

Research into the development of humane trapping methods is, however, already well underway and focuses on the creation of either instant killing devices (such as the modified Conibear trap - used in drowning sets) or on live holding devices (such as box traps or the Kim Novak leg snare) that are best suited to the individual species.