Animal Consumption

As one of the biggest Asian consumers of wildlife products, Vietnam has announced a suspension of all imports of wild animal species. The prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a directive that bans the import of "dead or alive" wild animals and fathers contains a vow that all illegal markets across Vietnam will be "eliminated".

The order also covers parts of these animals, their eggs or derivatives. The chairman of the anti-animal-trafficking group Freeland, Steven Glaster, has stated that "Vietnam is to be congratulated for recognising that COVID-19 and other pandemics are linked to the wildlife trade".

The new law will put into place starting on May 1st. Shenzhen will be the first city in the country to enact such ban and does so after the coronavirus pandemic was linked to the consumption of wildlife animals by scientists. The cities government sai, according to Reuters, that "Dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals" and that consumption ban is a common practice in developed countries.