N.Y.C. Admin. Code § L.L. 2004/055: L.L. 2004/055

Enactment date: 12/1/2004

Int. No. 367-A

By Council Members Clarke, Liu, Reed, Gennaro, Barron, Brewer, Gerson, Koppell, Lopez, Martinez, Palma, Perkins, Sanders, Vallone, Weprin, Jennings and Reyna

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the sale or purchase of products claiming to be or to contain an endangered or threatened species.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of Legislative Findings and Intent. Illegal trade poses a major threat to endangered wildlife throughout the world and must be curtailed in order to ensure the continued survival of these species in the wild. Examples of illegal trade can be found in a variety of sectors, including the trades in exotic pets, fine furs and leathers, tourist curios, game meats, and traditional medicines. Despite numerous state, national, and international laws prohibiting or regulating much of this trade, the illegal wildlife trade thrives. To gauge one small sector of this trade, TRAFFIC North America, the wildlife trade monitoring program of World Wildlife Fund, conducted a market survey in New York City's Chinatown in the spring of 2003 to determine if, and how frequently, illegal or regulated wildlife products were being sold in traditional medicine shops. Of the 27 shops surveyed, 12 displayed medicines containing, or claiming to contain, tiger bone or rhino horn. In addition, all of the stores were found to be selling products containing bear bile, musk (derived from musk deer) and leopard bone. These are just a sampling of products made from threatened and endangered species that can be found for sale in a variety of shops not only in New York City's Chinatown, but throughout the city and in various other communities throughout the United States.

It is illegal under federal and state law to sell or offer to sell many of the products uncovered in TRAFFIC's 2003 survey. These products, however, often go unnoticed, as authorities do not have the time or resources to regularly scour the shelves of stores in New York City. When offenders are caught, it is often difficult to prosecute them - in many instances, in order to prove a case, law enforcement personnel must employ expensive and often inconclusive DNA testing in an effort to demonstrate that a given product contains or is a part of an endangered species. For these reasons, not only are endangered and threatened species sold in New York City, but they are also sold openly, often with packaging that advertises their contents.

The Council finds that the advertising of an illegal product, such as a product that contains an endangered or threatened species, flouts and undermines respect for the law and that the purveyors of such products should not be permitted to act with such impunity. The Council further finds that the necessity of proving that a product advertised as containing an endangered or threatened species actually contains such species strains law enforcement resources. The Council therefore finds it imperative that New York City impose additional penalties on the sale or purchase of products claiming to be or to contain ingredients derived from an endangered or threatened species.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect 90 days after its enactment, except that the commissioner of consumer affairs shall take all actions necessary to implement this local law on or before the dates upon which the provisions of this local law shall take effect.