Nam Bak Enterprises sentenced for illegal import of plant species

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- October 22, 2012 -- On October 9, 2012, Nam Bak Enterprises Limited was convicted and fined in British Columbia Provincial court for offences under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA).

Nam Bak Enterprises received a total penalty of $50,000 for importing without a permit American Ginseng (wild and cultivated), a species listed under the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). Of that amount, the company must pay a $45,000 fine and $5,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF).

A 2008 inspection of a sea-container in the Port of Vancouver resulted in the detention of $150,000 worth of American Ginseng (9 kg wild and 544 kg cultivated) as well as Gastrodia (a species of orchid). A permit to import these species is required.

CITES is an international agreement to regulate trade in specific species of wild animals and plants, as well as their respective parts and derivatives. WAPPRIITA is the legislation used to implement CITES in Canada.

The Environmental Damages Fund is administered by Environment Canada. It was created in 1995 to provide a mechanism for directing funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and voluntary payments to priority projects that will benefit our natural environment.

Please visit our website to learn more about CITES and the Environmental Damages Fund.

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Environment Canada
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