Wildlife Trafficking Included As Organised Crime

Lawmakers voted on Wednesday to treat certain wildlife offences as organised and serious crimes, in an effort to combat wildlife trafficking.

The move to include these crimes in the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance gives authorities more power to clamp down on such illicit activities, allowing them to go after the syndicates and masterminds behind the illegal wildlife trade.

While Hong Kong is one of the largest hubs for illegal wildlife trafficking, limitations in the existing law meant it had been difficult for local authorities to pursue major cases.

"This legislative amendment confers the power of investigation and enforcement on local enforcement authorities, allowing them to inspect the financial flow associated with this illegal trade, of individuals and companies and confiscate their proceeds of crime," Jovy Chan, the manager of wildlife conservation of WWF Hong Kong said.

"The amendment to the legislation is beneficial to collecting evidence for prosecutions in a bid to enhance the deterrent effect for the effective tackle of smuggling activities.”

DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, who introduced the private member's bill, was also thrilled about its passage.

"The message to the international community is very clear: Hong Kong will not tolerate this kind of wildlife trafficking and our society is very keen on the protection of wildlife,” she said.

"I think the government should make use of AI and recent technology to build a better database, in order to do analysis and study on this kind of wildlife trafficking.”