[governance-vn] Vietnam house committee mulls bill on wild animal farming, trade

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Subject: [vnnews-l] Law/NA: Vietnam house committee mulls bill on wild animal 
farming, trade
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:28:58 -0700 (PDT)
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  	Thanh Nien News | Politics | Vietnam house committee mulls bill on
wild animal farming, trade



Vietnam house committee mulls bill on wild animal farming, trade



Farms may be allowed to breed protected animals and sell them from the
third generation (F3) onwards if a biodiversity bill discussed by a house
committee Monday is passed.

Most members of the National Assembly's Standing Committee agreed with
this provision of the Biodiversity Bill, which also obligates farms
breeding wild animals to get a license, show clear and legal origins of
their animals, and ensure good living conditions for the animals.
Farms have to take care of breeding animals and their offspring, the bill
says.

If they want to stop breeding the animals, they shall have to send them to
animal reserves.

Though illegal, the trade of wild animals remains widespread in Vietnam.
In an article last year in science magazine Cosmos, a World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) official said, "Many Vietnamese people believe that consuming
wildlife products promotes good physical health, often paying exorbitant
prices for products and meats derived from endangered species."

The NA Standing Committee members supporting the bill expect it to help
prevent illegal hunting of wild animals.

Much-needed legislation

The members agreed the bill was essential to set up a legal framework and
implement Vietnam's international commitments to protect biodiversity.
It would help promote "appropriate exploitation and use of biodiversity
and improvement in people's lives while ensuring conservation of
biodiversity," a committee report said.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen told the
committee that Vietnam's biodiversity was worsening rapidly and many
species were on the brink of extinction.

Many members called for the bill, which spells out the rights and
responsibilities of all organizations and individuals in conserving
biodiversity, to be enacted in 2010 instead of 2016 as planned.
They also wanted the bill to regulate the management of rare and unique
crop and animal strains.

One legislator, Dao Trong Thi, suggested that the issue of
genetically-modified organisms should be excluded from this bill and
regulated by another because such organisms were "unnatural".

The Standing Committee also discussed the High Technology Bill Monday.
Source: TN, agencies

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Published: 01 April, 2008, 11:24:58 (GMT+7)
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