Chinese authorities have temporarily banned the wild animal trade over coronavirus pandemic fears, but they are now offering tax incentives to export their edible exotic animals overseas. China’s National People’s Congress said in a statement when banning the trade, “The prominent problem of recklessly eating wild animals and its potential risk to public health have aroused wide public concern.” But a new report by the Wall Street Journal says they are now hoping to cash in on the multi-billion dollar animal product industry by offering tax breaks on exports. The Journal reports that last month, China’s Finance Ministry started offering value-added tax rebates on 1,500 Chinese products, including a 9 percent rebate on “edible snakes and turtles, primate meat, beaver and civet musk, and rhino horns.” The Congressional Research Service, responsible for producing nonpartisan analysis for Congress, has raised concern over such tax incentives, stating that encouraging wild animal sales abroad, while banned in China, “could spread the risk to global markets.”
