Whether the snake can be eaten later, the draft amendment to the regulations on the protection of wild animal and plant resources in Hunan Province was submitted for deliberation

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<b>"Now what can be eaten, what can not be eaten, what can be traded, and what cannot be traded is not clear, and it is hoped that the list of wild animals that can be artificially bred, traded and eaten will be clarified as soon as possible." </b>

At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress held on March 30, the draft amendment to the Regulations on the Protection of Wild Animal and Plant Resources in Hunan Province was deliberated and suggestions were made to the members of the Zuoyi Committee. Whitelisting, compensating farmers, how to increase penalties, etc., have all become the focus of this review.

Snakes, black-spotted frogs, bamboo rats, wild boars... Hunan is farmed for food purposes, mainly these animals. Can they still be eaten later?

On March 30, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th Hunan Provincial People's Congress deliberated the Amendment to the Regulations on the Protection of Wild Animal and Plant Resources in Hunan Province (Draft) (hereinafter referred to as the Amendment to the Regulations (Draft). A number of committee members at the scene suggested that a whitelist could be established. The staff of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Provincial People's Congress said that it is necessary to wait for the relevant departments of the State Council to formulate a catalogue of livestock and poultry genetic resources.

Focus One

Can you determine the "whitelist"

What are the main aspects of this revision? Hu Changqing, director of the Provincial Forestry Bureau, revealed in his explanation of the draft that the main reason is to revise the important contents of the regulations: to ban the consumption of wild animals, improve law enforcement measures for wildlife protection, and increase penalties for the destruction of wild animals.

The Amendment (Draft) to the Regulations stipulates that "it is forbidden to eat terrestrial wild animals and other terrestrial wild animals of important ecological, scientific and social value protected by the state, including artificially bred and artificially raised terrestrial wild animals." "

"There are so many things you can't eat, and it can be difficult to make a list of things you can't eat." Member Huang Yunqing held that it is possible to make a white list that can be eaten, so that it can be more specific.

In this regard, a similar view was expressed to member Zuoyi, "Now what can be eaten, which can not be eaten, which can be traded, and which can not be traded are not clear, I hope that the list of wild animals that can be artificially bred, traded and eaten can be clarified as soon as possible." "

Member Chang Zhiyu also expressed his own thoughts on the proposal of the "white list," "Everyone hopes to have a white list, and now it is possible that the province may not have authority to determine the white list, and what we have to do is to pay close attention to research and make suggestions."

For the opinions and suggestions of the committee members, the deliberation site, the relevant departments attended the meeting also answered.

Wu Qiuju, vice chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Provincial People's Congress and director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee, introduced: "The most prominent thing now is not the white list, but the inventory of livestock and poultry genetic resources, which stipulates that what can be raised and eaten can be eaten." According to relevant regulations, the formulation of the inventory of livestock and poultry genetic resources belongs to the relevant departments of the State Council. "

Taking Hunan as an example, the main four types of snakes, black-spotted frogs, bamboo rats, and wild boars are mainly cultivated for the purpose of eating in our province, and whether these can be eaten later or not must wait for the adjustment of the inventory of livestock and poultry genetic resources. Wu Qiuju said, "The white list is a good wish, but at present, the inventory of livestock and poultry genetic resources has not yet been determined, and this 'white list' is incomplete, and it is recommended that the relevant departments of the provincial government conduct in-depth investigation and research on this issue, scientifically assess and demonstrate, and timely reflect the situation in Hunan to the relevant state departments." "

Han Xu, deputy director of the Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said on February 27 that he is currently consulting with the State Forestry and Grassland Administration to adjust and improve the relevant catalogues and supporting regulations to further clarify the scope of fasting. "Before the new catalogue is introduced, we will clarify the species that have been listed in the Catalogue of Economic Aquatic Animal and Plant Resources under National Key Protection or the Catalogue of Aquatic Wild Animals under National Key Protection through the Form of Documents."

Focus 2

How farmers compensate

On February 24, the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Completely Banning Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eliminating the Bad Habit of Eating Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting the People's Life, Health and Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Decision) was adopted. The "Decision" makes it clear that the relevant local people's governments shall support, guide and help the affected peasant households to adjust and transform their production and operation activities, and give certain compensation according to the actual situation.

As a major farming province, Hunan has put the special breeding industry in many places into a standstill.

"Now the mentality of special farmers is that they can't sell money, raise and burn money, and immediately have no money." Many members of the committee learned about the current situation of farmers in the course of research. "Now there are indeed many difficulties in special industry aquaculture, special industry breeding is a lot of local government support poverty alleviation industry, related poor households to varying degrees to suffer losses, poor handling is not good, poverty alleviation poor households will face the risk of returning to poverty." Member Zhan Xiaoan suggested that a provision on the government's guidance and assistance to the transformation and transformation of farmers in extreme poverty be added, "Can we clearly require in the regulations that the people's governments at or above the county level should take positive measures to help legal special breeding enterprises or farmers transform into production?" "

Member Liang Zhaohong also agreed, "It is proposed to increase the content of protecting the masses and give compensation according to the actual situation." Relevant local people's governments shall support, guide, and help affected peasant households to adjust and transform their production and operation activities. "

Liu Huixiong, vice chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, said, "Relevant suggestions have been submitted now, suggesting that corresponding measures and methods be formulated to solve this problem." "

Focus three

How to increase the penalty for violators

The Amendment (Draft) to the Regulations makes it clear that whoever hunts, trades, transports or eats wild animals in violation of the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations shall be given an aggravated punishment on the basis of the existing legal provisions.

The content of this article is related to the first point of the Decision: "Where the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws prohibit the hunting, trading, transportation or consumption of wild animals, it must be strictly prohibited." For violations of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the punishment shall be increased on the basis of the current legal provisions."

"The 'aggravated punishment' is more specific and more numerous, has no basis, is not specific, and is not strong in operability." Member Huang Yunqing said.

"It is proposed to make specific provisions for 'aggravated penalties' and to add penalties for eaters of wild animals who illegally consume wild animals and those who organize eating." Daniel Zhang said.

"Whether it is a criminal law or an administrative punishment, the law must be clearly stipulated, and the 'aggravation' is to be above the range prescribed by the law." Wu Qiuju said.

After the promulgation of the "Decision", the responsible person of the relevant department of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made it clear in an interview that the comprehensive revision of the Wildlife Protection Law requires a process, and at the critical moment of epidemic prevention and control, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will adopt a special decision as soon as possible, which is both very necessary and very urgent. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued a special decision that can focus on the prominent problem of indiscriminate consumption of wild animals, and before the relevant laws are amended, it will first clearly and comprehensively prohibit the consumption of wild animals in a timely manner, severely crack down on illegal wildlife trade, and provide a strong legislative guarantee for winning the battle against the epidemic and ensuring the life, health and safety of the people.

"The Decision is a decision of a legal nature and has the significance of legal norms." Wu Qiuju said that it will further clarify how to punish, "so that the administrative department can enforce the law, if it is to be implemented, it must be stipulated in the regulations and published to the public before it can be implemented." "

observe

Many provinces and cities have issued regulations to say "no" to wild game

Hunan and other places have included a ban on wildlife trade in their legislative plans

The outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought "wild game consumption" into the public eye.

Although there is no clear evidence that the source of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is wild animals, it has been confirmed by scientific research that emerging infectious diseases such as H7N9 avian influenza, Ebola, and Middle East respiratory syndrome are all related to animals. Xiaoxiang Morning Post reporter noted that in the revision of the Wildlife Protection Law, the standing committees of the people's congresses in some places have taken a step ahead.

Measures

Many provinces and cities exercise local legislative power to completely ban the wilderness

On February 24, the 16th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress voted to adopt the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Completely Banning Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eliminating the Bad Habit of Eating Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting the People's Life, Health and Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Decision).

In addition to the deployment at the national level, the Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter noted that various localities have also exercised local legislative power and have introduced decisions, regulations, legislation and supervision plans for epidemic prevention and control, especially the comprehensive ban on illegal wildlife trade and the comprehensive ban on the consumption of wild animals.

According to incomplete statistics, Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai and other provinces and cities have clarified the 2020 legislation and supervision plan.

For example, on February 25, the "Regulations on the Comprehensive Prohibition of The Consumption of Wild Animals in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" was opened to the public for comments; for example, on March 5, Hubei promulgated the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress on Severely Cracking Down on Illegal Wildlife Trade, Completely Banning the Consumption of Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting the People's Life, Health and Safety", which completely prohibited the consumption of wild animals.

In the past few days, from the central to the local level, many provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have come up with the "strictest" measures to vigorously strengthen the supervision of wild animals.

source

Implement the spirit of the central authorities and fill in legal loopholes

The decisions, regulations, legislation and supervision plans issued by many provinces across the country to completely ban illegal wildlife trade and eat wild animals can be understood from two levels.

First of all, this is the implementation of the spirit of the central government.

General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on February 3 to study the response to the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, "Relevant departments should strengthen the implementation of laws, strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade, resolutely eliminate the bad habit of indiscriminately eating wild animals, and control major public health risks from the source." Subsequently, on the 24th of that month, the Decision was adopted.

Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the relevant actions of the comprehensive ban on the consumption of wild animals in various places are a pragmatic implementation of the central spirit.

Secondly, it is also making up for legal loopholes and shortcomings.

Zhou Xunfang, professor at the School of Political Science and Law of Central South University of Forestry and Technology and an expert in the study of wildlife protection law, introduced that China's current "Wildlife Protection Law" is limited to wild animals under national key protection and other protected wild animals that have no legal source and have not been quarantined within the legal norms of fasting. However, for terrestrial wild animals with important ecological, scientific and social value, as well as terrestrial wild animals under local key protection, whether to prohibit consumption is not clearly stipulated, "this is a legal loophole and shortcoming".

characteristic

The scope of consumption and the intensity of punishment are in the spotlight

The Xiaoxiang Morning Post reporter noted that after the release of the "Decision," most parts of the country basically followed the opinions of the "Decision" in formulating local drafts. However, each region has its own characteristics in terms of specific measures. The scope of fasting in some provinces and cities is consistent with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and some provinces and cities have issued lists based on their own local characteristics.

The more stringent one is Shenzhen, which lists the terrestrial animals that can be eaten by the public, including pigs, cattle and sheep, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and other poultry and livestock, as well as aquatic animals that are not prohibited from eating according to laws and regulations. This is the "whitelist" system that most people advocate.

Why a "white list" of edible animals instead of a "blacklist" of banned animals? According to the relevant person in charge of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress, there are many kinds of wild animals in nature, and there are more than 2,000 species of wild animals in China, and the list of wild animals prohibited from eating by the local government will be too lengthy. The formulation of a "white list" of edible animals can better achieve a clear and clear list management effect with strong operability.

Of course, there is another focus of attention that is the severity of punishment. Shang Lunsheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress, once said that "aggravated punishment" is rarely used in China's laws, and the "Decision" uses "heavier punishment," which shows the state's firm determination and strength to strictly prohibit the hunting, trading, and consumption of wild animals.

Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Luo Yaqi Zhang Qin Changsha reported

【Source: ZAKER Xiaoxiang】

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