Smart grab
China
says it is set to totally ban any trade in ivory before the close of year in a
step that is expected to protect the elephant which is listed as vulnerable
(facing high extinction in the wild).
By Edmund Smith-Asante, BEIJING
 |
| Officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the State Forestry Administration who spoke with the journalists. |
China
says it would place a total ban on ivory trade as one of several measures to
stem illegal wildlife trade and protect endangered animal species before the
close of year.
These
were revealed when officials of China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA), the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) Management Authority and Wildlife Conservation Association met with
some African journalists last Friday.
 |
| Mr. Wang Winsheng, Deputy Director General of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserves Management speaking at the meeting. |
“The
laws and regulations of China prescribe severe penalties for those who offend
the above legal requirements, from confiscating the wildlife or their products,
fining up to 10 times of the actual value of concerned goods, to life
imprisonment.”
He
indicated that last year alone about 570 people were arrested and prosecuted for
engaging in illegal wildlife trade.
Amendments, law enforcement
To
further tighten the noose on illegal wildlife trade, Mr. Wang said some key
amendments such as an additional legal explanation on criminal law; especially
on illegal purchase of wildlife and their products was made on April 29, 2014.
Also,
the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a
judicial explanation on smuggling activities including wildlife cases on August
12, 2014.
He
stated that “the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted
Amendment of the Law for Wildlife Conservation on July 2, 2016 in which a
series of requirements including those on consumption of wildlife as foods, trade
on internet and advertisement concerning wildlife etc, have been added.
Mr. Wang
said to show the good faith of the Chinese government hotlines, and email
account and weibo – a social platform
had been created for information on illegal activities.
Inspections
had also been intensified at borders, ports, air flights, ships, trains and
other vehicles as well as patrolling of markets and shopping areas, monitoring
the internet and tracing illegal activities and cases to punish criminals.
There is
also a special policy on ivory trade and a labeling system to track illegal
wildlife trade.
Positions
Mr. Wang
said “it is China’s determination to resolutely combat illegal wildlife trade”
and called for wider international collaboration to break the illegal wildlife
trade chain which has already began with the signing of a bilateral agreement
with Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.
He asked
for a clear distinction to be made between legal and illegal wildlife trade and
attention drawn to the livelihoods of locals who depended on wildlife products
for effective combating of illegal trade.
He blamed
journalists for sometimes giving misleading information that enhanced illegal
wildlife trade, by for instance highlighting the boom, high price of ivory and
the perceived benefits but said China was opposed to that as well as the
politicisation of the illegal wildlife trade.
CITES
 |
| Ms. Zhou Zhihua speaking to the African journalists. |
Expressing
her support to the total ban on ivory trade, she said her establishment had
already preceded the ban with the suspension of all imports of ivory carvings,
hunting trophies and pre-Convention specimens of African elephants in 2015,
while it had placed a trade ban on rhino horn and tiger bone since 1993.
The CITES Authority has also launched several events
for the destruction of confiscated ivory and shown tolerance for illegal ivory,
she said. There has been a global CITES ban on international sales of ivory
since 1990.
Ms. Zhou
told the Daily Graphic that in view
of the restrictions on especially endangered flora and fauna, researchers and
health professionals required certification or a trade mark on species to be
used for research and medicinal purposes to show they were legally acquired.
The
Deputy Secretary-General of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, Ms.
Guo Lixin, said a series of public education activities were held to let people
appreciate and preserve nature, while an annual bird loving week attracted
about four million bird watchers.
Writer’s
email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh
Facts
·
According to worldelephantday.org, elephant
numbers have dropped by 62 per cent over the last decade, and they could be
mostly extinct by the end of the next decade.
· The World Wildlife Fund for Nature
(WWF), says in the 1980s about 100 African elephants were killed each day by
poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts, leaving only an estimated 415,000 in
the forests.
· The Asian elephant, whose habitat covers
over 13 countries across Asia, is an endangered species with less than
40,000 remaining worldwide.
This
story was written on May 7, 2017
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