From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
LAST
REF
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
тог
3 June 1974
Pilar Sawid,
PF.
(107
Norman Buchan's Private Secretary wrote to you on 29 March to say that your letter and enclosures of 28 March had been passed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Your constituent, Mrs Abel, expressed concern about the animal trade hetween China and Hong Kong, and particularly about cruelty and the threat of extinction to certain species.A 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; and I am sorry that 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 hum- anely 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 Govern- ment 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
I of the Convention, the decision on whether they were in fact endangered would be, under the Convention, with the Chinese Government. Our Ambassador in Peking has therefore raised the problem
David Crouch Esq MP
House of Commons
CIT
/with the
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