↑In order to evade supervision, such transactions are mostly carried out in a hidden way such as code words, picture coding, interception of local pictures, or use stick figures instead.
Red Star News reporter Cai Xiaoyi Pan Junwen intern Zhu Yue
Edited by Zhang Xun
On April 7, some butterfly enthusiasts reported to Red Star News that there was a case of illegal trading of specimens of nationally protected butterfly varieties on the online platform Idle Fish. The Red Star News reporter's investigation found that the rare butterfly specimens sold by the sellers of the platform include the green leaf red-necked butterfly, the phoenix butterfly, and the bird-winged butterfly, all of which are protected varieties in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
In addition, most sellers have not obtained compliant import and export license certificates, as well as special identification for the management of Wild Animals and Plants in China necessary for domestic transactions. In order to evade supervision, such transactions are also carried out in a hidden way such as code words, picture coding, interception of local pictures, or use stick figures instead.
The expert stressed that, according to the provisions of the Convention, regardless of the purpose, it is necessary to have an import and export certificate when trading specimens. The lawyer also said that for illegal import and export or other smuggling of endangered wild animals and plants and their products, the customs will punish them in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Customs Law.
The second-hand trading platform is suspected of illegally selling state-protected butterfly varieties
On April 7, butterfly enthusiast Mr. Chen reported to Red Star News that there was a situation of illegal trading of state-protected butterfly varieties on the online platform Idle Fish. Mr. Chen found that the platform trading involved a number of rare butterfly species within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, also known as the Washington Convention), such as the green leaf red-necked butterfly, the phoenix butterfly, the bird-winged butterfly, etc.
According to public information, China joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1980, and the Convention officially entered into force for China on April 8, 1981. At present, China has established a legislative system for the implementation of the Convention with the Wildlife Protection Law, the Regulations on the Protection of Wild Plants, and the Regulations on the Administration of import and export of endangered wild animals and plants as the main body.
↑Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The Red Star News reporter's investigation found that the platform did buy and sell protected butterfly specimens. Through the search, the reporter found that multiple sellers hung up transaction links suspected of rare butterfly varieties. Among them, a seller hung four links to the butterfly specimen transaction with the word "red scarf" on the home page, and one of the links just sold for 350 yuan on April 7. In the personal dynamics of another seller, two product links called "Cui & Ter" and "Troy" can also be seen, which have been sold for 950 yuan and 550 yuan respectively.
After verification by the reporter to experts in insects, the above specimens are the "green leaf red-necked phoenix butterfly" in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which belongs to the protected varieties subject to international trade control. When the reporter asked the seller as a consumer whether he was a butterfly of this species, he also got a positive answer.
↑On the platform, most butterfly specimen sellers do not directly present physical drawings of specimens.
Public information shows that the green leaf red-necked butterfly is a genus of red-necked butterflies in the family Butterfly, also known as the Trojan red-necked butterfly. Because it has a ring of red fluff on its neck, it is called "red neck". The butterfly is found in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Palawan in the Philippines and other places.
In addition, some sellers also listed a product called "Fan's WoundEd Seam Butterfly (Single Female)" for 400 yuan in March. Experts have confirmed that the scientific name of this variety is "Fan's Butterfly". According to public information, the Fan's butterfly is a large butterfly of the genus Butterfly in the family Butterfly family, and is also a protected species belonging to CITES Appendix II.
Another seller's homepage posted links to "Big Green Butterfly" and "Big Yellow Butterfly" for 800 yuan. Experts have confirmed that both butterflies are the "green bird wing butterfly" of the genus Ornithopod, also known as the Pearl of the Orient Butterfly, which belongs to a species of the genus Ornithopper in the family Butterfly family, and is listed as a protected species in Appendix II of CITES.
Red Star News also noted that there are also merchants selling golden phoenix butterflies on multiple platforms, with prices ranging from 54 yuan to 434 yuan according to different product appearances, which shows that the original butterflies of 434 yuan have spelled 97,000 pieces. According to experts, the golden butterfly is distributed in Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Nepal and China, and is one of the protected species of APPENDIX II of CITES, and is also a second-level protected animal in the List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection.
Lack of corresponding certificates, in order to evade supervision, most of them use codes, codes and other ways to trade
The Red Star News reporter noted that on the current second-hand platform, the regular butterfly specimen transaction has a more complex process. A seller of butterfly specimens hanging from three protected species "Bird Wing Butterfly Genus" said: "According to the relevant national laws and regulations, holders of CITES Appendix II. related animals and plants and their products need to apply for a special logo for the management of the management of the management of wild animals and plants in China. ”
In the seller's product details, nearly 400 words of specimen transaction steps are also listed in a sub-article for the buyer's reference. The seller said that according to different qualities, the price ranges from 300 yuan to 3300 yuan. Generally, after the sale, the buyer transmits 5 photos of the purchase specimen spread to the seller, and after the seller receives the return map, it is uniformly reported to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration for approval, and the logo center makes the logo.
However, most specimen merchants lack legal import and export certificates or special marks for the management of the operation and utilization of wild animals and plants in China. On April 8, the reporter asked the seller of the protected variety of green leaf red-necked butterfly "whether the butterfly specimen has a certificate of permission to import and export", and the seller replied that "this is for a friend to hang", but did not answer positively. Another seller who sold the protected species of green bird wing butterfly directly said "no" and said that he did not need to file with the Forestry Bureau to make a logo.
↑The seller indicates that the specimen sold does not have a special identification plate.
The reporter's inquiry noted that article 35 of the mainland's "Wildlife Protection Law" clearly stipulates that the import and export of wild animals or their products listed in international conventions shall be approved by the competent department for wildlife protection under the State Council or the State Council, and a certificate of permission to import and export issued by the national endangered species import and export administration agency shall be obtained. In recent years, there has also been no shortage of news of local customs seizing butterfly specimens imported and exported illegally and without a license.
In order to evade supervision, some illegal transactions are carried out in the form of code words, picture coding, interception of local pictures or use stick figures instead of physical pictures. The reporter's investigation found that sellers mostly trade in code language according to the characteristics of butterfly specimens, such as the red-necked butterfly with green leaves due to the red fluff on its neck, and the sellers mostly write "red scarves" when trading; green bird wing butterflies are based on the different traits of males and females - green is male, yellow is female, and is called "green big butterfly" and "yellow big butterfly".
Most sellers did not release the butterfly specimen as a whole in the product image, but only screenshotted part of the pattern of the butterfly wings. In the above two product links named "Cui <" and "Troy", not only is the name of the product unclear, but the product map is only a partial map of the specimen.
↑ When the reporter asks as a consumer, the seller will privately send the physical picture of the product.
In addition, most butterfly specimen sellers do not directly present the physical drawings of the specimens, but carry out large-scale coding processing on the pictures, and even replace the original pictures with stick figures. Only when the reporter asks about the appearance of the product as a consumer, the seller will privately send the physical picture of the product.
Experts: Personal collection increases merchant price increase The import and export certificate is required when trading
Zhao Li, director of Chengdu Huaxi Entomological Museum, has published a number of works related to butterfly research, and is currently engaged in scientific research and science popularization. He told Red Star News, "The butterfly specimens currently introduced are generally used for popular science exhibitions or academic research. As far as I know, not only this kind of online trading platform, but also this kind of specimen trading is also carried out in many groups. ”
Zhao Li introduced that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora points out that the species in Appendix I are animals and plants that will lead to extinction if international trade is carried out again, and it is clearly stipulated that their international trade is prohibited, and only in special circumstances are allowed to buy and sell specimens of these species. Appendix II species include species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but whose trade must be controlled to avoid exploitation that is inconsistent with their survival.
Zhao Li stressed that according to the provisions of the convention, no matter what kind of use, when trading specimens, it is necessary to hold an import and export certificate. "Whether at home or abroad, every transaction must show the certificate, and the certificate is transferred with the specimen, as long as the specimen is held, it is necessary to have the original of this certificate, otherwise some merchants will take advantage of the loophole and use copies to whitewash the smuggled specimens." In addition, when trading in China, it is also necessary to have a special logo for Chinese wildlife management. ”
"Such protected butterfly specimen transactions need to take a formal route, many countries have to collect taxes, coupled with the rarity of things, merchant speculation, specimen prices are indeed relatively high, there is a phenomenon of illegal transactions on second-hand platforms." Zhao Li introduced, "For example, bird-winged butterflies, generally the country of origin to handle an export formality, it costs hundreds of dollars." An export procedure corresponds to a batch of butterflies, and the number of butterflies in the same batch is as small as it is, for example, Hong Kong, China, is only allowed to export five species in one batch, but there is no specific number. ”
Zhao Li introduced that in recent years, the mainland customs has been relatively strict in the management of the import and export of specimens. "Due to the improvement of inspection technology, specimens and parcels smuggled by mail and other means will be discovered in time when they are imported, but there are also many smugglers who carry them through freight channels."
In addition, Zhao Li also introduced that last year, China carried out a new revision of the Wildlife Protection Law, adding 75 species of protected insects. At present, The protection of butterflies in China mainly starts from the protection of habitat, which is also the international consensus on insect protection. "Because insects have strong reproductive ability, but are more sensitive to the environment, the habitat must be protected to effectively protect a species." Overall, the habitats of these protected butterflies are relatively tightly protected, and there is no existential crisis for the time being.
For the legal risks that may be involved in the illegal sale and purchase of protected butterfly specimens, Fu Jian, a lawyer at Henan Yulong Law Firm, told Red Star News that if the parties know that they are precious and endangered wild animals under national key protection, and then illegally hunt and kill, or illegally acquire and transport wild animals and their products, they will face criminal penalties.
Zheng Xiaojing, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongdun Law Firm who has represented many related cases, pointed out in an interview with Red Star News that the first paragraph of article 48 of the Wildlife Protection Law stipulates that wildlife and their products and illegal gains shall be confiscated by the competent department for wildlife protection of the people's government at or above the county level or above or the market supervision and management department in accordance with the division of duties for the sale, purchase, use, transportation, carriage or delivery of wild animals under key national protection and their products without approval, acquisition or failure to use special labels in accordance with regulations. A fine of not less than two times but not more than ten times the value of wild animals and their products shall also be imposed; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be pursued in accordance with law.
"If it is found that the items involved in the case are approved or obtained with a special label, they can be sold or purchased, and they are not illegal or criminal; if the special label is not approved or used, violating article 341 of the Criminal Law, it may be suspected of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, and the items involved in the case are assessed and the corresponding punishment is determined." Lawyer Zheng Xiaojing said.
Red Star News noted that according to the interpretation of the Provisions on the Standards for filing and Prosecuting Criminal Cases under the Jurisdiction of Public Security Organs (I) issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security in June 2008, the "precious and endangered wild animals" involved in article 341 of the Criminal Law include both wild animals under national first- and second-level protection listed in the List of Wild Animals under Key National Protection, as well as wild animals listed in Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
In terms of sentencing, according to article 341 of the Criminal Law, whoever illegally acquires, transports or sells rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection and their products shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined;
On the other hand, lawyer Fu Jian told reporters that according to the relevant provisions of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in handling Criminal Cases of Destroying Wildlife Resources, "if the butterfly species traded is included in the list of wild animals under national key protection by artificial breeding, or if the artificial breeding technology has matured and has become a scale, as a pet trade and transportation, the cases involved are generally not considered to be crimes, and even if criminal responsibility needs to be pursued, they should be treated leniently according to law." ”
Platform: If you violate the rules, you will ban your account and remove the product from the shelves
Red Star News noted that public information shows that the registered place of the Idle Fish APP is Yuhang District, Zhejiang City. For the suspected illegal trading of nationally protected butterfly varieties on the platform, the staff of the Forestry and Water Conservancy Bureau of Yuhang District told Red Star News on the 11th that relevant reporting materials have been received and are currently being further verified.
Idle fish customer service responded to Red Star News on the 9th that the platform clearly stipulates that it cannot sell nationally protected animals and plants, and has let the commissioner verify the situation. "If it is found that the seller violates the design rules of the idle fish listing products, the corresponding penalties and restrictions will be imposed on the seller's account, generally the seller user's account is banned and the product is removed from the shelves." In addition, the platform will also vigorously strengthen the supervision of the protection of animals, plants and products in circulation and sale. ”
Pinduoduo also said that in response to such phenomena, once found, the platform will punish merchants according to relevant rules for the first time, and deal with them seriously after verification. On the 11th, Pinduoduo staff further replied that the suspected illegal goods have been removed from the shelves, and the relevant business approval process will be created in the future, "Such behavior will affect the subsequent operation and assessment of the business, and the platform will seriously deal with it to ensure that it will not appear again." ”
For the online trading of wild animals and plants and their products, Zhao Hui, a professor at the Chinese Min public security university, pointed out that such illegal and criminal acts have the characteristics of strong concealment, simple operation and low illegal cost. In addition, the diversification of transportation modes also adds difficulty to investigate and deal with such online transactions.
In Zhao Hui's view, to crack down on the illegal sale of wild animals and plants on the Internet, it is necessary to ensure the integrated governance of online and offline, and do a good job of mechanism docking and supporting support. First of all, the responsibility of the Internet platform needs to be clarified in law; secondly, postal express, transportation, inspection and quarantine, market supervision, public security and other departments should closely cooperate and implement linkage.
Qiu Baochang, president of the E-commerce Rule of Law Research Association of the Beijing Municipal Law Society, also introduced in an interview that the E-commerce Law clearly stipulates that e-commerce operators must not sell or provide goods or services that are prohibited from trading by laws and administrative regulations. If it is found that the goods on the platform violate the provisions, the necessary disposal measures shall be taken in accordance with law and reported to the relevant competent departments. According to this provision, the platform has the responsibility to review whether the business operators in the platform have the qualifications of the main body and whether the goods sold are legal. For goods that some countries explicitly prohibit the sale of, or goods that can only be sold after permission, if the platform does not block or disconnect the link, it will bear the corresponding civil liability and administrative liability. ”
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