A working group has been formed to develop a national strategy for the eradication of illegal killing, trapping and trade in wild birds, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Rights said.

The group is made up of representatives from Birdlife, the FKNK, the Police, Mepay and the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.

In a statement this morning, the secretariat welcomed this week's judgement in a case over the smuggling of a large consignment of live protected birds from Sicily.

The consignment, which was hidden in a refrigerator van, consisted of 551 specimens of several species of finches which are protected under national and EU legislation.

The case was disclosed and prosecuted as a result of a joint operation by Customs, the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit and the Specialist Enforcement Branch of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.

Magistrate Anthony Vella imposed a fine of €4,600 and confiscation of the van.

The secretariat said that in line with the Government’s zero-tolerance policy for infringements, illegalities of this nature would not be tolerated.

The fight against illegal killing, trapping and trade in wild birds was being stepped up, and the recent increase in enforcement presence in the field, the doubling of penalties for bird-related crime, and the number of significant cases disclosed over the past weeks were a testimony to the Government’s seriousness and resolve to combat such crime, the secretariat said.