Thursday April 13, 2023 | 8:47 a.m.
China will not take part in a United Nations project to inspect Asian wet markets and other facilities at high risk of spreading infectious diseases from animals to humans, despite lengthy talks with Beijing, an official with China told Reuters. UN.
China’s reluctance to join the UN project involving other Asian countries may compound the frustration of researchers around the world, who have been pressing Beijing to share information about the origins of COVID-19, in its attempt to prevent future pandemics due to the transmission of diseases from animals to humans.
Four Asian countries—China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos—were initially selected for the study by the scientific advisory committee for the project, called Safety across Asia For the global Environment (SAFE), because they host multiple facilities that pose risks from diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans, also known as zoonotic, explained the head of the UN.
The selection for the project, which began in July 2021, was also made after detecting, investigating and prosecuting important cases of trafficking in wild animals in those countries, which increased zoonotic risks, said the person in charge.
“China was initially in talks to be part of the project,” said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitive information.
The official said that talks with China are still ongoing, but did not clarify with which state institution the UN project is holding talks.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Forest and Grassland Administration (NFGA), which oversees wildlife management and was involved in initial talks with project organizers, did not respond to requests. of comments.
The official said that the NFGA initially showed interest in the project, but ultimately refused to join, claiming that it was not within its remit. The agency did not indicate which government agencies would handle the matter, the official said.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which monitors illegal wildlife trafficking and coordinates the SAFE project, had no immediate comment.
After a strain of coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19 was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, many researchers suspected it had spread there from a live animal market.
Since then, China has banned the sale and consumption as food for wild animals. Despite the ban, experts warn that the risks still persist.
“There are glaring loopholes in the restrictions that still pose a risk of zoonotic disease,” said Peter Li, China policy specialist for Humane Society International, a Washington-based nonprofit.
In his view, China continues to allow the mass farming of wild animals for the fur trade, traditional medicine, the pet trade, and for entertainment or display in poor welfare conditions.
China’s public security organs have handled more than 70,000 criminal cases involving wild animals between 2020 and 2022, confiscating 1.37 million wild animals in the process, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
According to the website of the National People’s Assembly, the revised law on wildlife, designed to fill regulatory gaps, will enter into force in May.
A SLOW START
The SAFE project inspections did not begin until October last year, when project advisers visited Khao Kheow Zoo and a cafe in Thailand. Since then another dozen surveys have been carried out in the country.
The objective is to promote prevention and preparation for the pandemic, said the person in charge, noting that the results of the surveys would be shared only with the participating States.
After China left the initial talks, it was replaced by the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, according to the list of participating countries posted on the project’s official website.
Some 40 facilities in each participating country will be inspected to identify possible risks of disease transmission.
Facilities to be inspected include restaurants, wet markets, biomedical supply facilities, zoos, and breeding facilities. Wet markets are those where wild animals are sold along with meat and fresh vegetables.
Vietnam and Laos have yet to pass the studies. The UN official expects both countries to give their formal approval in the coming weeks or months. Sabah in Malaysia has authorized field visits.
A second UN official, from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) running the project, said practices that can increase the risks of disease transmission include the lack of of hygiene, the mixture of different animal species and the use of overcrowded cages.
The project, funded by the European Union and which will run until July 2024, could be expanded to include the World Health Organization (WHO) if public health considerations are identified, the UN chief said.
