The General Administration of Market Supervision Exposes the First Case of Wild Animal Sales in Short Video
Online and offline linkage cut off the wildlife trading chain
□ Our reporter Wan Jing
On March 30, the General Administration of Market Supervision released a batch of typical cases of illegal wildlife trading. This is also the ninth batch of typical cases of "Joint Double Action" announced by the General Administration of Market Supervision since the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic.
"Legal Daily" reporter noted that the General Administration of Market Supervision has notified a case of selling wild animals with short-hand videos. This is the first case of short-term video sales of wild animals exposed by the General Administration of Market Supervision.
App secretly sells wild animals
Network becomes the hardest hit by illegal transactions
On February 28, the Tangshan Municipal Market Supervision and Law Enforcement Bureau of Tangshan City received a report from the masses that some people were selling wild animals on quick videos. The Tangshan Municipal Market Supervision and Law Enforcement Bureau immediately coordinated the Lubei District Public Security Branch Network Security Team to verify the address of the owner of the Kuaishou Live Number provided by the reporter. On March 2, the West Woodland Farm in Song'ercun Village, Hancheng Township, Lubei District was spot-checked and suspected of 12 red-bellied golden pheasants and 1 white-bellied golden pheasant.
After investigation, the client Gu Mou contracted the land to start a farm without a business qualification or domestication and breeding license, and was unable to sell due to the epidemic situation, so he promoted and sold it on the Kuaishou platform. According to the relevant regulations of the Wildlife Protection Law and other relevant regulations, the Tangshan Municipal Market Supervision and Law Enforcement Bureau detained 13 of the above-mentioned golden pheasants involved in the case and submitted them to the relevant departments for identification and investigation. At present, the case is under investigation.
With the increasing variety of online forms, short videos, live broadcasts, WeChat Moments, mobile apps and other platforms have successively appeared to provide content that facilitates suspected illegal hunting or illegal sales. Moreover, there are always no shortage of illegal wildlife transactions on traditional online trading platforms.
"Legal Daily" reporter combed the nine batches of typical cases of illegal wildlife transactions disclosed by the General Administration of Market Supervision since early February this year, and found that the Internet black market is becoming a convenient channel for illegal wildlife transactions. Online wildlife trafficking is being used by some criminals because of its "high profit and low risk" characteristics, and it is becoming more and more rampant.
In the online black market wildlife trade, as long as the buyer knows the exact location and method, whether it is ivory, polar bear fur, pangolin, rhino horn, or live tiger, you can buy it online. Due to the "wide range and deep hiding" of the online black market, combating illegal wildlife trafficking on the Internet is not a one-time achievement, but it is imminent.
It has become a consensus in the industry that the Internet has become the hardest hit by illegal wildlife trading. In fact, as early as 2016, the online proportion of illegal wildlife trade exceeded the offline proportion. According to the "Research Report on China's Internet Trade Trends of Wild Banned Goods" released by private research institutions, from the publicly reported cases of wild banned goods trading, from January to May 2015, 30.6% of the cases involved online links. From January to May 2016, this proportion increased to 46.3%, showing a clear upward trend.
From January 2015 to May 2016, in publicly reported cases of wild contraband transactions, 48% of ivory transactions were sold through online platforms. The number of cases of selling tortoises, pythons, and rhino horns through Internet channels even exceeds the number of cases that rely solely on offline sales. 100% of tortoises are sold through the Internet.
"In recent years, with the advancement of offline governance, the proportion of online transactions may continue to rise." Zhao Hui, a professor at the People's Public Security University of China, said in an analysis.
It is worth noting that a reporter from Legal Daily found that in addition to online trading platforms, pet shops have also become another "secret channel" for illegally selling wild animals.
Two of the typical cases announced by the General Administration of Market Regulation this time involved pet stores. One of them was a pet shop in Kuancheng District, Changchun City, Jilin Province, where one peony-faced peony parrot, two cockatiels, two culture birds and one grackle were seized. The parties were unable to provide transaction records and domestication, hunting, import and export, etc. Proof of legal source and unable to get in touch with the purchaser. Kuancheng Branch of Changchun Municipal Market Supervision Bureau confiscated the wildlife involved and imposed a fine in accordance with the Wildlife Protection Law and other relevant regulations.
Another one was a pet supplies store in Nanguan District, Changchun City, where 8 lizards (leopard-patterned palaces), 1 turtle and 7 spiders were seized on the spot. The parties cannot provide proof of legal origin. The Nanguan Branch of the Changchun Municipal Market Supervision Bureau seized the above-mentioned wild animals on the spot for identification according to the relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Law and other investigations, and conducted an investigation. At present, the case is under investigation.
Supervision joint platform to act together
Strive to cut off the game industry chain
After the outbreak of New Coronary Pneumonia, the abuse of wild animals caused widespread concern in the community. In order to cut the black chain of "game industry", Chinese governments and legislators at all levels acted quickly.
The General Administration of Market Supervision, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Forestry and Grassland Bureau jointly issued an announcement deciding that until the national epidemic situation is lifted, any form of wildlife trading is strictly prohibited. Subsequently, the National Health and Health Commission issued a work plan to comprehensively ban wildlife trading; the Ministry of Public Security issued emergency notices to severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities involving wildlife.
On February 8th, the General Administration of Market Supervision and Administration formulated the “Opinions on Strictly and Strictly Combating Severe Corruptions during the Prevention and Control of New Coronavirus Epidemic Situations”, which clearly clarifies the illegality of illegal trade in wild animals and their products, and the manufacture and sale of protective equipment such as masks. Behaviors, within the punishment type and punishment range that can be selected according to law.
On February 24, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress voted to pass a decision on comprehensively prohibiting illegal wildlife trade, eradicating the abuse of wild animals, and effectively guaranteeing people's lives, health and safety. "Terrestrial wild animals of social value" and other terrestrial wild animals, including artificially propagated and reared terrestrial wild animals.
Taobao, JD.com, Suning, Pinduoduo, WeChat, Weibo, Baidu, Douyin, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu ... These online platforms have also recently sent letters to digital appliance vendors and social platforms asking them to remove illegal wildlife commodity. Most of the links to wild animal products that appeared in the past are now invalid.
Adhere to online and offline integrated governance
Do a good job in supporting supporting mechanisms
Zhao Hui analyzed that the illegal and criminal acts of trading wild animals and their products online have the characteristics of strong concealment, simple operation, and low illegal cost. In addition, the diversification of transportation methods also makes it more difficult to investigate and deal with wildlife online transactions. According to survey statistics, in most cases of illegal wildlife trade on the Internet, criminals will choose to use express delivery for transportation and sales. There are countless express shipments nationwide, and safety inspections and inspections by the transportation department cannot be completed without any omissions. The express method is highly concealed and inexpensive, and has become the preferred method for illegally trading wild animals and their products online. In addition, some lawbreakers also find long-distance bus drivers to bring deliveries, and many "experienced" long-distance bus drivers will choose to drive on remote roads to avoid checkpoints.
In Zhao Hui's view, to combat the illegal sale of wildlife on the Internet, we must ensure integrated online and offline governance, and do a good job of mechanism docking and supporting support. First, 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 cooperate closely and implement linkage.
"To combat illegal wildlife trade on the Internet, technical issues have never been the key, but the key is the degree of attention." Zhao Hui believes that it is impossible to rely solely on government agencies such as market supervision departments, public security departments, forest and grass departments, and platform companies must also take active actions Rise up and assume corresponding responsibility. In addition, the public must actively report.
According to Qiu Baochang, chairman of the Beijing Society of Law's E-Commerce Rule of Law Research Institute, the E-Commerce Law makes it clear that e-commerce operators are not allowed to sell or provide goods or services that are prohibited by laws or administrative regulations. If an operator of an e-commerce platform finds that the goods or service information on the platform violates the regulations, it shall take necessary disposal measures according to law and report to the relevant competent department. According to this regulation, the platform is responsible for reviewing whether the operators in the platform have the main body qualification and whether the products sold are legal. For products that are specifically prohibited from sale in some countries, or that can only be sold with permission, if the platform does not block or disconnect the link, it must bear corresponding civil and administrative responsibilities.