Crocodile eel "legal trade" is concerned, how to regulate invasive alien species?

The Paper's trainee reporter Liu Lu senior reporter Lin Ping

National concern about alligator eels continues. In response to some e-commerce merchants' statement that their "trading is legal, release is illegal", many industry experts believe that crocodile eels belong to aquatic invasive species, and selling on online platforms is illegal, and the purchase behavior can be expanded to be interpreted as an introduction behavior, and if it cannot provide proof of legal source (such as the introduction permit), the corresponding legal responsibility needs to be pursued.

The alligator eel is an invasive aquatic alien species. @Xinhua Photo

Experts suggest that laws and regulations such as the Wildlife Protection Law, the Biosecurity Law, and the Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species should be revised and improved as soon as possible, and clear and clear provisions should be made on the introduction, sale, purchase, and release of invasive alien species, and efforts should be made to enhance the biosecurity awareness of the whole society, and relevant departments should enforce the law more strictly.

The "lawfulness of buying and selling" statement attracts attention, experts: the criminal law provides for crimes

A number of e-commerce platforms have recently sold crocodile eels, and sellers have also claimed that crocodile eels are "legal to buy and sell, and release is illegal", which has aroused public concern.

Professor Yang Zhaoxia, director of the Ecological Law Research Center of Beijing Forestry University, pointed out in an interview with the surging news that according to the current laws and regulations and policy documents, the crocodile eel is an invasive aquatic alien species that may pose a hazard to personal safety and the ecological environment, and the law clearly stipulates that the introduction of wild animal species must be approved, and cannot be introduced without approval, and the online trading platform is prohibited from providing trading services for the illegal sale, purchase and use of wild animals.

"Buying and selling alligator eels on online platforms is illegal (the purchase can be expanded to be an introduction) and should be removed from the shelves." Yang Zhaoxia suggested that in order to more effectively prevent and control invasive alien species, the Wildlife Protection Law, the Biosecurity Law, and the Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species should be revised as soon as possible to make clearer and clearer provisions on prohibiting the sale and purchase of invasive alien species.

The Paper noted that in terms of legal regulations, the Biosecurity Law, the Wildlife Protection Law, the Law on the Quarantine of Animals and Plants Entering and Leaving the Country, and the Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species stipulate many binding provisions on the invasion of alien species, and the Criminal Law also contains the crime of illegally introducing invasive alien species.

For example, Yang Zhaoxia said, the Biosecurity Law clearly stipulates that no unit or individual may introduce, release or discard alien species without approval; Those who constitute illegality, in addition to catching and retrieving the alien species within a time limit, will also be fined 10,000-50,000 yuan. The Wildlife Protection Law not only stipulates the approval system for the overseas introduction of wild animal species, prohibiting the provision of advertising and trading services for the illegal sale, purchase and use of wild animals, but also makes specific provisions on the release of wild animals, requiring the selection of local species suitable for wild survival in the release site, and must not interfere with the normal life and production of local residents, avoid causing harm to the ecosystem, otherwise bear legal responsibility according to law.

The Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species also make more comprehensive provisions on the risk assessment, monitoring and early warning, prevention and control of invasive alien species.

In addition, article 344 of the Criminal Law also stipulates the crime of illegally introducing, releasing or discarding invasive alien species: if an invasive alien species is illegally introduced, released or discarded in violation of State regulations, if the circumstances are serious, it shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined or fined alone.

In response to the saying that crocodile eels are "legal to buy and sell", Zhou Xunfang, director of the Forestry Law Research Institute of Central South University of Forestry and Technology, said in an interview with the surging news that it is illegal to trade alien species such as crocodile eels on online platforms without handling import approval and quarantine approval, and should be punished in accordance with article 81 of the Biosecurity Law.

Yang Chaoxia also said that with regard to the statement that "trading is legal, and release is illegal", according to Article 9 of the Civil Code, civil entities engaged in civil activities should be conducive to saving resources and protecting the ecological environment. In other words, the sale of alligator eels violates the green principles of the Civil Code, at least not legally.

Clarify the concept of "invasive alien species"

The invasion of alien species has had a huge negative impact on the ecological environment and economic development of the mainland. According to the 2020 Bulletin on the State of China's Ecological Environment, more than 660 invasive alien species have been discovered nationwide, of which 71 have caused or are potential threats to natural ecosystems and are included in the List of Invasive Alien Species in China, and 219 species have been invaded into national nature reserves.

However, the concepts of "alien species" and "invasive alien species" need to be clarified. The Paper noted that Article 2 of the Measures for the Administration of Invasive Alien Species stipulates that an alien species refers to a species that has no natural distribution in China and has been introduced by natural or man-made means, including all parts of the species that may survive and reproduce. Invasive alien species refer to alien species that have been introduced into colonization and pose a threat or hazard to ecosystems, habitats and species, affect the ecological environment of the mainland, and damage the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries and biodiversity.

"The introduction of alien species from abroad due to special needs such as variety breeding requires approval; After alien species are introduced in accordance with the law, they cannot be released into the wild environment. Zhou Xunfang said that the provisions of Articles 37 and 54 of the Wildlife Protection Law can be fully applied to the breeding and release management of alien species. The introduction of wildlife species from abroad shall be subject to the approval of the competent department for wildlife protection under the State Council. For alien species that have been approved for introduction, safe and reliable preventive measures shall be taken during the breeding process to prevent them from entering the wild environment and avoid causing harm to the ecosystem. Where it is truly necessary to release them into the wild, it must be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State.

Zhou Xunfang said that which alien species are invasive species need to be determined by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in conjunction with relevant departments to formulate a list of invasive alien species.

"Not all alien species are invasive alien species." According to Yang Zhaoxia's research, invasive alien species are mainly realized through four methods: intentional introduction, unintentional introduction, animal release and natural invasion. "Alligator eels were first intentionally introduced to the mainland as ornamental fish, and many people like to raise them. But because of the huge amount of food, some people will abandon it; Of course, there may also be cases of charity release. ”

Strengthen supervision and stricter law enforcement

Yang Chaoxia said that so far, the mainland has established a legislative and policy system to prevent the invasion of alien species, and formulated corresponding laws and regulations such as directory management, introduction approval, entry quarantine review, environmental risk assessment, monitoring and early warning, and emergency disposal.

In order to effectively strengthen the prevention and control of invasive alien species, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant ministries and commissions, has issued the Work Plan for Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Invasive Alien Species, the Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Pilot Work of the Census of Invasive Alien Species in Agriculture, and the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Overall Plan for the Census of Invasive Alien Species, which clearly requires the census and early warning monitoring of invasive alien species. Yang Chaoxia pointed out that the "Work Plan for Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Alien Species Invasion" mentions that it is necessary to "strengthen the supervision of the breeding of aquatic alien species, and promote the comprehensive management of aquatic invasive alien species such as water hyacinth, Fushou snail, crocodile eel and so on." The "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Overall Plan for the Census of Invasive Alien Species" also proposes to conduct a national census of 10 major alien aquatic organisms, including alligator eels, "It can be seen that the mainland has listed alligator eels as invasive alien species and carried out a series of work." ”

"The mainland environmental protection law, wildlife protection law, biosecurity law and other laws all have provisions on the management of foreign species." Zhou Xunfang further introduced that in the departmental regulations, there are some more detailed management measures. For example, the former State Forestry Administration issued the Measures for the Handling of Sudden Forestry Pest Incidents, the Administrative Measures for the Examination and Approval of the Introduction of Alien Species and Quantities of Terrestrial Wild Animals, the Administrative Measures for the Qualification Recognition of Popular Foreign Pilot Nursery Nurseries, and the Administrative Measures for the Approval of Designated Processing Enterprises for Pine Wood Nematode Disease And Wood Processing Plates.

Zhou Xunfang mentioned that the "Management Measures for Invasive Alien Species", which was officially implemented on August 1, 2022, also established a coordination mechanism for the prevention and control of invasive alien species, clarified that local people's governments at or above the county level are responsible for the prevention and control of invasive alien species in their administrative regions in accordance with the law, clarified the responsibilities for the prevention and control and management of invasive alien species in forestry grasslands, natural resources (oceans), ecological environment and other relevant competent departments, established a directory of invasive alien species, established an expert committee for the prevention and control of invasive alien species, and prevented from the source. Detailed response measures are provided for monitoring and early warning, remediation and remediation.

"So far, the legal measures have been basically sufficient." Zhou Xunfang believes that the key is two points: First, it is necessary to comprehensively improve the biosecurity awareness of the whole society through publicity and education; Second, relevant departments should strengthen supervision and stricter law enforcement.

Source: The Paper