TNAG-0469-FCO40-534-Legislation-for-protection-of-wild-life-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 57

From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London S.W.1

LAST

REF.

(60 (8)

3 June 1974

99

Dear John,

You wrote to Mr Blaker on 15 January, enclosing a letter which you had received from your then constituents, Mr and Mrs Shaw, of Knowles Fold, School Green, Thornton, Bradford, Yorkshire, about the BBC Radio 4 programme on the import of wildlife from China into Hong Kong. Mr Blaker's Private Secretary replied to you on

18 February, saying that the questions raised by the BBC programme were still under consideration.

Since the election the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Governor of Hong Kong have continued to examine with care what is being and should be done to deal with this difficult and complex problem. 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 hirds 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 theproblems 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 import- ation 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 11 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

John Wilkinson Esq

Loroblem