FWD: Dept to conduct spot checks for bear parts

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This article is from thestar.com.my

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/10/29/nation/cmbile & sec=nation

 

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Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Dept to conduct spot checks for bear parts

By SUSAN TAM

 

PETALING JAYA: Strict checks for bear parts used in medicinal products sold at

traditional Chinese medicine shops will be conducted by the Wildlife and

National Parks Department (Perhilitan) to stop illegal trade of these animal

parts.

 

Perhilitan acting director for enforcement Khairiah Mohd Shariff said several

teams would be conducting spot checks at the shops listed in the information

obtained from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

 

However, she said under the present Wildlife Protection Act 1972, penalties

could only be enforced on individuals trading in specific animal parts, and in

this case bear parts such as gall bladder, bile and skin.

 

“If the parts have been mixed with other properties, the product will then be

classified as a drug or medicine and we will not be able to enforce the

penalties,” she said in an interview yesterday.

 

She said if the enforcement teams discover drugs or medicines containing bear

parts, they would inform the Health Ministry for further action.

 

However, Khairiah said that under the proposed amendments to the Act, a clause

would include the medicinal products or drugs as illegal and higher penalties

would be imposed.

 

Fines would be increased five-fold and the jail term doubled compared with the

existing penalties, she said, adding that the amendments were being fine-tuned

and expected to be tabled next year.

 

“At present, for the trading of such parts, the maximum sentences are a RM5,000

fine or three-year jail term or both,” she added.

 

Khairiah was responding to WSPA’s “The Bear Bile Business” report, which

appealed for stricter enforcement to clamp down on illegal trade in bear parts.

 

The report had stated that based on a survey conducted in five major cities in

Malaysia, 78% of traditional Chinese medicine shops were selling bear bile, in

the form of powder, flakes or crystals.

 

The trading of animal parts is illegal under the Convention for the

International Trade in Endangered Species of which Malaysia is a signatory.

 

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