Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994 TAG: 9404070028
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The same interagency recommendation said that China, also accused of illegal trade in rhinoceros horns and tiger bones, should be spared sanctions at this time, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A decision to impose sanctions would be the first time the United States has taken such action to protect endangered species. While controversial in free-trade circles, such a move would help Clinton regain favor with environmental groups, who have been disappointed with some of the administration's other decisions.
The president informed China and Taiwan in November that they would face trade sanctions unless they stemmed their trafficking in rhinos and tigers, which are listed as endangered species and protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Clinton gave the two nations a March deadline.
Tiger and rhino parts are valued in Asia for medicinal purposes.
Sanctions against Taiwan would be mostly symbolic. The recommendation is that Clinton bar only wildlife products that Taiwan exports to the United States, a $22-million-a-year market that includes tropical fish, coral and mussel-shell jewelry, snakeskin shoes, and other items made from reptile skins.
Administration officials decided to deal separately with China and Taiwan, partly because they have made differing degrees of progress toward complying with the endangered species treaty, the officials said Wednesday.
In addition, the question of China also included consideration of larger, sensitive bilateral issues regarding human rights and cooperation on the touchy nuclear controversy in North Korea, officials said.
They said China escaped sanctions partly on merits and partly out of consideration for the unwillingness by other nations to slap China at this time. The officials said China has taken steps to impede the wildlife trade, including burning stockpiles of rhino and tiger parts and arresting traffickers, while Taiwan has done little.
If Clinton approves the policy, China would be given until the end of the year to improve, when sanctions again would be considered.
Wildlife experts say the rhino and tiger populations are declining fast and the animals could face extinction by the end of the century. The number of tigers has fallen by 95 percent this century, with an estimated 5,000 left. Rhinos are estimated at a population of 10,000.
by CNB