§ Mr. EtheringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what immediate steps are being taken by the Governor of Hong Kong to ensure that Hong Kong enforces its own compliance with the CITES regulations to ban trade in(a) rhinoceros horn and (b) rhinoceros horn products and to dispose of stocks of rhinoceros horn.
§ Mr. GoodladHong Kong has strict legislation governing the implementation of CITES and is fully committed to rigorous enforcement of its provisions.
Acting on information from the Environmental Investigation Agency—EIA—and other sources, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government raided five medicine shops on 21 October and 598W another 24 on 22 October. Suspected rhino hide was seized from two shops, together with a number of packets of medicine claiming to contain rhino ingredients. This series of raids will continue until all the pharmacies identified by the EIA as having rhino products available have been searched.