Relevant departments under the State Council have already
started amending the Law on the Protection of Wildlife and plan to
submit the draft amendments to the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress (NPC) this year, Beijing-based Legal
Daily reported recently.
It has been 15 years since the existing Law on the Protection of
Wildlife became effective on March 1, 1989. At the First Session of
the 10th National People's Congress convened in March last year,
127 deputies put forward four motions suggesting amending the
law.
After deliberation, the NPC Environment and Resources Protection
Committee agreed that relevant provisions of the law could no
longer adapt to the current situation of wildlife protection. For
one example, scientists have found that the SARS
virus is 99 percent similar to one carried by animals including the
masked palm civet. But so far no law or regulation?--
including the Law on the Protection of Wildlife -- have articles
forbidding people from eating wildlife. Many aspects of the law
involving protection principles, protection sphere and legal
measures need to be revised immediately.
The chairpersons' meeting of the 10th NPC Standing Committee
accordingly included the revision of the wildlife protection law
into the list of its 2003 legislative agenda.
A senior legislator in charge of the NPC Environment and
Resources Protection Committee said they would urge the relevant
departments of the State Council to adopt proposals from the
deputies and complete the amendment draft as soon as possible. It
is planned that the draft will be submitted to the Standing
Committee of the NPC for deliberation and approval this year.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, January 18, 2003)