Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng said yesterday the government was proposing to increase the maximum fine for smuggling endangered species from the current 5,000 patacas to 500,000 patacas.
Leong made the announcement during a special press conference at Government Headquarters.
Leong said the Executive Council (ExCo) had completed discussing a bill on the local enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), also known as the Washington Convention. According to Leong, the convention has applied to Macau since 1986, and the bill is to replace a decree law which came into effect that year.
