OFFICIALS are planning to close a loophole which allows prepackaged Chinese medicines to use ingredients from endangered animals.
Patented Chinese medicines would be banned from containing all endangered animal parts banned from international trade under changes to the law being considered.
The law now permits the use of endangered species - except rhino and tiger - in pre-packaged medicines.
Patented medicines containing derivatives of all other animals listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) now escape regulation under Hong Kong's Animals and Plants Protection Ordinance.
The ordinance prohibits or restricts trading only in the raw parts of species detailed by CITES.
Conservation officer Cheung Chi-sun of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department said proposed amendments would have a huge impact on traders and the Government's workload.
With thousands of herbalists and practitioners and only 11 field staff, the department needed more resources, he said.
