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No matter how cunning the fox is, it cannot escape the eyes of the hunter.
Fill in the "shampoo" on the customs declaration form, and open the box to "change the live fish"! This is not a magician's trick, but a "problem" delivery that Hangzhou Customs has recently intercepted in its work.
With the increasing ability of ports to detect and issue, in recent years, smuggling packages of prohibited animals and plants have been taken down by customs. A live rat woman (a bug) declared a "plastic toy", a fire salamander camouflaged in a fast food box... According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in 2021, customs intercepted 8,473 live animals and plants such as alien species and seedlings through non-trade channels, an increase of 98.43% year-on-year.
What is the "cattiness" behind these inbound deliveries? The reporter takes you to find out...
"Hanging sheep's head to sell dog meat" inbound deliveries
The picture shows the Japanese medaka intercepted by Hangzhou Customs in the inbound delivery
Not long ago, the Qianjiang Customs Office in The Post Office of Qianjiang Customs, a subsidiary of Hangzhou Customs, found during a routine inspection of incoming goods that the X-ray machine image of a parcel showed that it contained irregular liquids, and the packaging was easily deformed, accompanied by orange dots. This means that the package may contain organic items.
The on-site staff judged that the package, which was ordered through a false name and address and declared as a "shampoo", was at risk. After opening the box, the package contained several inflatable transparent water bags, and 10 small fish were swimming in the water bags.
These small fish were identified as Japanese medaka. There are 5 species of medaka native to the mainland, and the Japanese medaka has not yet been distributed on the mainland.
According to the Hangzhou customs staff, live medaka fish from outside are prone to parasites, fungi and bacterial diseases, and belong to the prohibited carrying and sending in articles stipulated in the "Directory of Animals and Plants and Their Products and Other Quarantine Items Prohibited from Being Carried and Transported into China by the People's Republic of China".
After handing over the illegal entry of medaka to the anti-smuggling department of the customs for further investigation, Hangzhou Customs carried out risk control of the incoming goods, and intercepted 25 batches and 190 medaka in the past month.
Cut off the chain of illegal delivery of alien biological interests
The picture shows the live swift arrow ants intercepted by Beijing Customs in the inbound delivery
"Shampoos become live fish" is not an isolated case. The reporter learned from the General Administration of Customs that in recent years, local customs have repeatedly seized such cases by comprehensively strengthening the construction of customs biosecurity risk prevention and control and governance system.
In May 2021, when the Dalian Post Office Customs under Dalian Customs inspected the incoming mail, it was found that an email with the declared product name "plastic toy" may be falsely declared and has a very high quarantine risk. After checking out of the box, the mail contained multiple plastic cans and boxes, and each container contained dozens of live rat women.
——In May 2021, when the Shenzhen Post Office Customs under Shenzhen Customs inspected the inbound express mail, it found an abnormality in an express mail with the name of "children's clothes", and after opening the box, it was found that there were 13 live frogs in the plastic box, which was identified by the laboratory as one of the most toxic invasive alien species.
——In September 2021, when the Capital Airport Customs under Beijing Customs conducted a key inspection of inbound express mail, it found that there was a risk in the goods declared for a express mail face sheet named "Art Class Learning Textbook". After checking out of the box, the express contains 5 glass tubes and contains more than 150 live swift arrow ants.
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What kind of person would dare to smuggle foreign creatures across the sea in secret under the strict defense of the "guardians of the national gate"? The reporter's investigation found that behind this is an underground market spawned by the "exotic pet fever".
Exotic pets are alternative pets that are different from traditional pets such as cats, dogs, and birds. Due to the influence of factors such as hunting mentality, alternative pets represented by rats, snakes, lizards, reptiles, etc., have been sought after by many young people in recent years. It is worth noting that many sellers of exotic pets do not have relevant qualifications, and even some people illegally buy and sell wild animals under the guise of selling exotic pets, including many foreign organisms that illegally enter the country.
With the continuous heating up of the "alien pet fever", a black chain of interests has gradually formed. Taking japanese medaka as an example, the local market price is very low, but the value of the body after "swimming" to the country has doubled. Stimulated by huge profits, some lawbreakers do not hesitate to take risks. Once these invasive alien species spread in the mainland, they may pose an immeasurable threat to the ecological environment of the mainland.
Use the power of the rule of law to build a national biosecurity defense line
On April 15, 2021, the Biosecurity Law of the People's Republic of China came into effect. As the basic law of the mainland's national biosecurity rule of law system, this law is of far-reaching significance to building a solid mainland biosecurity barrier.
"At present, the types of biosecurity threats in the mainland continue to increase, showing the characteristics of internationalization, extreme harm, and complex development. For example, the number of invasive alien species on the mainland is on the rise, and it is becoming one of the countries most affected by alien species invasion in the world. Qin Tianbao, director of the Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, believes that the biosecurity law systematically sorts out various types of biosecurity risks, clarifies the institutional mechanisms and basic systems for the prevention and control of biosecurity risks, fills the gap in the basic laws in the field of biosecurity, and has achieved remarkable results in the past year.
After the implementation of the Biosecurity Law, the General Administration of Customs innovated the construction of institutional mechanisms, strengthened system governance and full-chain prevention and control, firmly grasped key risk areas, strengthened entry quarantine, strengthened potential risk analysis and penalties for violations of laws and regulations, and resolutely guarded the national gate.
In terms of risk monitoring, the Customs carries out comprehensive monitoring of 144 animal diseases and 18 types (species) of harmful organisms, timely carries out risk assessment and precise deployment and control to strengthen source control and port quarantine; in terms of entry quarantine, it disposes of unqualified animals and plants and their products according to law, strictly prevents the introduction of animal and plant epidemic diseases and the invasion of alien species; and establishes and improves the joint prevention and control mechanism with agriculture and rural areas, forestry and grassland, health and health, ecological environment and other departments in terms of cooperation and co-governance.
A country's biosecurity rule of law defense line is gradually taking shape and becoming stronger.
Qin Tianbao suggested that in the next step, with the Biosecurity Law as the core, administrative regulations on preventing alien invasion and loss of genetic resources should be promulgated as soon as possible, establish and improve the standard system and relevant directory of biosecurity risk assessment, investigation, monitoring, early warning, etc., strengthen the capacity building of biosecurity early warning and guarantee, and enhance the ability to predict new threats to biosecurity, material reserves, and scientific and technological reserves.
The rise of "exotic pet fever" is a manifestation of young people's pursuit of individuality. However, in order to pursue the excitement of the new wave, blindly raising wild animals and plants, and even "digging" for exotic creatures that are not native to the mainland, this behavior not only lacks reverence for nature, but also lacks reverence for the law.
The practice is not enough on its own. To consolidate the national "biosecurity defense line", it is not only necessary to improve the legal system related to biosecurity and further increase the cost of violating the law, but also to strengthen the overall national security concept of the public and jointly protect the beautiful home of you and me.
Producer: Che Yuming
Coordinator: Yang Weihan, Han Jie
Reporter: Zou Duowei, Bai Yang
Editors: Leng Yanyan, Jia Zhen
Produced by Xinhua News Agency