Brussels, 03/03/2022 (Agence Europe) – The European Union plays a key role in the global shark trade, denounces a report published on 1 March by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The NGO analysed customs data from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan covering imports and exports of shark fins and meat from 2003 to 2020. According to IFAW, EU Member States were the source of 45% of shark fin products imported into these three areas in 2020. Spain is one of the world’s leading shark fin exporters, followed at the European level by Portugal, the Netherlands and France, according to the report (https://aeur.eu/f/li ). A total of 188,368 tonnes of shark fins were imported into Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan (2003-2020) and the EU is estimated to be responsible for almost a third of these imports. (LC)