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SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1976
HK JOINS INTERNATIONAL FIGHT TO PROTECT ENDANGERED WILDLIFE
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HONG KONG TAKES A FURTHER STEP FORWARD IN JOINING THE INTER- NATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THE FIGHTING FOR NATURE CONSERVATION WITH THE PASSAGE OF NEW LEGISLATION EXTENDING PROTECTION TO A WIDE RANGE OF ENDANGERED WILDLIFE.
THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS (RESTRICTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES) ORDINANCE 1976, WHICH RECENTLY CAME INTO EFFECT, EXTENDS CONTROL TO THE TRADE IN SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION, AND BY IT, HONG KONG CONFORMS TO THE 1973 WASHINGTON CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA.
THE CONVENTION, WHICH WAS ATTENDED BY MOST OF THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, RECOGNISED THAT THE WILD FAUNA AND FLORA IN THEIR MANY BEAUTIFUL AND VARIED FORMS ARE AN IRREPLACEABLE PART OF THE NATURAL SYSTEMS OF THE EARTH WHICH MUST BE PROTECTED FOR THIS AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME+, AND THAT +INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PROTECTION OF CERTAIN SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA AGAINST OVER-EXPLOITATION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL TRADE+. ITS PROVISIONS HAVE SINCE BEEN RATIFIED BY MANY OF HONG KONG'S NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES AND TRADING PARTNERS.
THE NEW LAW WHICH EXTENDS HONG KONG'S PREVIOUS SUPPORT TO THIS INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO PROTECT THE WORLD'S DIMINISHING WILDLIFE, IS AIMED AT REGULATING RATHER THAN PROHIBITING THE TRADE IN THESE ENDANGERED SPECIES.
CERTAIN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF SNAKES, FISH, MOLLUSCS AND PLANTS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL IN THE NEW LEGISLATION, AND THERE HAS ALSO BEEN SOME INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CONTROLLING SPECIES OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS. THE RANGE NOW INCLUDES CHINESE PANGOLINS, OWLS AND OTHER BIRDS OF PREY, GREEN TURTLES, PYTHONS, AND SKINS OF LEOPARDS, OTHER +SPOTTED CATS+, BIRDS OF PARADISE, AND MANY OTHERS.
THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM OF CONTROLLING THE IMPORT AND POSSESSION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES BY LICENCE WILL CONTINUE, BUT THEIR EXPORT HAS ALSO BEEN BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN THIS FIELD. IN GENERAL, LICENCES TO IMPORT WILL ONLY BE ISSUED WHEN THE EXPORTING COUNTRY ISSUES AN EXPORT LICENCE.
UNDER THE NEW ORDINANCE, NO ONE MAY IMPORT, EXPORT OR POSSESS ANY OF THE PROTECTED SPECIES EXCEPT UNDER AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH A LICENCE ISSUED BY THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES. ANYONE CONTRAVENING THESE RESTRICTIONS IS LIABLE ON CONVICTION TO A FINE OF $5,000 OR, IN THE CASE OF A SUBSEQUENT OFFENCE, A FINE OF $10,000 AND IMPRISONMENT OF SIX MONTHS.
THE EXTENSION OF THE LIST OF PROTECTED LIVE ANIMALS IS NOT EXPECTED TO PRESENT PARTICULAR DIFFICULTIES TO EXISTING TRADE. ONE ANIMAL NEWLY INCLUDED IS THE CHINESE PANGOLIN, BUT IN ANY CASE, ITS IMPORT FROM CHINA HAS DRASTICALLY FALLEN FROM SOME 3,400 IN 1974 TO ONLY 10 IN 1975.
/AS FAR AS