TNAG-0469-FCO40-534-Legislation-for-protection-of-wild-life-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 18

Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1

File

121

Telephone 01-

Mrs J de Fevre

Chairman

The Conference of Animal Welfare Societies

Forest Holme, Black Hill, Crowsborough, Sussex.

Your reference

Our reference

Date 26 June 1974

LAST

REF

93

N

REF.

33

36

You wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 4 January about the import of wild life from China into Hong Kong. Miss Kelly of this Department replied on 29 January saying that the questions raised by the BBC programme were being looked into and that a fuller reply would be sent as soon as possible. We have since received your reminder of 14 June.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Governor of Hong Kong have been examining with care what is being done and should be done to deal with this difficult and complex problem; I am sorry that for this reason, I have not been able to reply to your letter more quickly.

Hong Kong is, of course, predominantly a Chinese society. The Hong Kong Government do not seek to dictate to their people what they should or should not eat, provided that the animals and birds are humanely treated and killed, and that internationally accepted restrictions on trade in endangered species are observed. The Hong Kong Government are, however, well aware of the problems which arise from the wildlife trade and have recently passed further legislation and taken other measures to deal with them.

As far as endangered species are concerned, the Hong Kong Government have already banned, as from 1 January 1974, the importation of threatened species listed in Appendix 1 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. As for other potentially endangered species, such as those in Appendix II of the Convention, the decision on whether they were in fact endangered would be, under the Convention, for the Chinese Government. Our Ambassador in Peking has therefore raised the problem with the Chinese authorities. The Chinese Government already pay great attention to the protection of their own wildlife resources, and they have now undertaken to look into this question.

/There