Commentary on provisions of Act Shark fins Section 1: Prohibition on import and export of detached shark fins
Subsections (1) and (2) of this section prohibit the import of shark fins or items containing shark fins into the United Kingdom as a result of their entry into Great Britain. They also prohibit the removal of such items from the United Kingdom as a result of their removal from Great Britain. The prohibition does not apply if a shark fin is naturally attached to the body of a shark and the body is substantially intact.
	Subsection (2)(b) further explains the meaning of ‘substantially intact’. This means that the head and internal organs of a shark can be removed (and some damage may have occurred to the body in transit), but the body should still be substantially intact. This is to prevent permitting trade for fins which are attached to small parts of the shark body, while the rest of the body could have been discarded – which still poses ethical and sustainability concerns.
	Subsection (3) refers to the Schedule which contains provisions for exemption certificates relating to the prohibition in Subsection (1).
	Subsection (4) defines, for the purposes of this section and the Schedule, "shark fins" as meaning any fins or part of fins of a shark other than the pectoral fins or parts of pectoral fins of a ray and "shark" as meaning any fish of the taxon Elasmobranchii. The pectoral fins of a ray are excluded because they are a constituent part of raywings. Consistent with the approach in the Shark Finning Regulation 1185/2003, this also applies to the pectoral fins of a skate for the same reason.