Beijing Tongrentang Pharmaceutical Company chief engineer Gu Haiou was anxious as he delivered a list to the State Food and Drug Administration (SDA).

The list is a compilation of all the ingredients his company uses in its patented medicines - which include animal and herb products such as musk and bile, which can be from endangered species.

His company can only continue to manufacture medicines containing these ingredients if they are approved by both the SDA and the State Forestry Administration, who now must issue labels to confirm they have approved the product.

The labels must be placed on each product for sale.

The number of labels the company gets from the two State administrations also limits the amount of ingredients it can use.

Guo says he understands that China needs to take this step to help preserve the increasingly fragile ecological system of the Earth.

In 295 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prescriptions so far identified, more than 60 contain musk, which traditionally comes from the musk deer. Half of that used now is synthetic musk.

The musk deer is on the national A-list of endangered wild animals. Synthetic musk has been approved by the SDA and came onto the market in March, 2004. And the government has started to limit the use of real musk from real deer.

As well as habitat destruction, poaching musk deer poses the biggest threat to the long-term survival of these animals.

According to the China Academy of Sciences, deer numbers have declined from 3 million in the 1960s to 250,000 in the early 1990s.

"The alarming decline in the numbers of some wild animals has also threatened the sustainable development of TCM," said Gu.

China started looking into the overuse of wildlife products in TCM medicine production a few years ago.

In 2003, the State Forestry Administration and State Administration of Industry and Commerce started experimenting with ways to license their use, and the labelling scheme was introduced.

A medicinal liquor produced by the Zhangyu Group Company in Shandong Province and the Yedao Group Company in Hainan Province was the first product to be labelled in this way.

Over the past two years, the two administrations have looked into products beyond TCM. Also under scrutiny are ivory carving, the erhu - the two-stringed traditional Chinese fiddle - specimens for teaching and scientific research, laboratory animals such as monkeys, healthcare products and fresh or frozen wild animal meat.

"Eventually, the use of all wildlife products will be strictly licensed," said Si Ping, deputy director of the Wildlife Management Division of the Department of Wildlife Conservation with the State Forestry Administration.

But he admits there is a long way to go.

Wildlife products have been categorized as special commodities.

Over the years, the government has limited or banned the use of species on the brink of extinction.

An initial administrative system is now in place to examine and check the flow and use of wildlife products in transport, distribution, imports and exports.

The introduction of the label will in a way simplify previous checking procedures, Si said, adding that his administration will look into the source of the materials.

"If the sources are legal and transparent, we will issue a certain amount of labels to a company as official licensing. But the issue and review will be carried out on an annual basis," he said.

The administration will be able to track whether the animals or plants being used are at risk or not and make adjustments accordingly by changing label quotas.

Tackling illegal trade

The government is also trying to stamp out illegal production and trade of the merchandise using wildlife as a raw material.

The traditional Chinese instrument the erhu is one example. Snake skin is usually used to cover its resonator, and is said to improve the quality of the tone. One boa skin can produce 15 erhu.

"The demand for erhu at home and abroad is still growing for its special soft tone," said Feng Yuankai, head of the Information Department of China Musical Instruments Association.

In 2003, more than 30,000 boa skins were used to make the instruments.

Boa is on the A-list of endangered wildlife under State protection. Feng admits the snake is becoming rare.

He joined the State Forestry Administration and China Musical Instruments Association in investigating boa skin supply and erhu production around the country.

Many private unregistered workshops were found in the countryside, using smuggled wild boa skins.

"The introduction of the special label hopefully will help crack down on those illegal workshops," said Feng, while the licensed makers will legally manufacture the instrument.

To qualify for the labels, the companies must buy their raw materials from restricted and legal channels or, better still, boa-breeding farms.

Raise public awareness

Although related companies now welcome the new wildlife labels, conservationists are calling for better efforts to raise public awareness.

Yin Feng, a programme officer at the China Wildlife Conservation Association, once investigated supermarkets where the labelled Yedao medicinal liquor was sold.

He found that 85 per cent of the interviewees did not know what the label meant. Most of the consumers looked on it as no different from an ordinary quality safety label.

"It is now imperative to educate the public about the content and necessity of wildlife product management labels.

"The ordinary consumers' support for labelled products and reports on illegal ones would contribute a lot to a more regulated market," said Yin.

Government administrations are working on it, said Si.

"When they see the labels, they consider them safe and trustworthy. This kind of mentality will certainly help us improve public recognition of wildlife product labelling," he said.

(China Daily 05/31/2005 page14)