A panel organized by the Council of Agriculture met for the first time on Wednesday to screen an application by Taipei City Zoo to import a pair of giant pandas from China, but failed to reach any conclusion.
The panel asked the city zoo to furnish it with a detailed report within a week on the number of pandas that have died in captivity or during the reproductive process over the past decade.
The 13-member panel, composed of representatives from five government agencies and eight academics, will hold a second review meeting at a later date.
The zoo filed its panda import application with the council on Oct.14. The panel is required to come up with a "yes or no" decision by Feb. 15.
Beijing offered to give Taiwan a pair of pandas in May at the end of former Chinese Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan's (
China has said that the export of the pandas to Taiwan would not be subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as it is an "internal" matter between Taiwan and China, not an international event.
Senior officials from both the Council of Agriculture and the Mainland Affairs Council have outlined several principles for dealing with the import of pandas -- an endangered species.
First, those applying for the pandas must be a qualified party as defined by the Wildlife Protection Law (
The applicants must provide a fitting environment and conditions to care for the animals, and the delivery of the animals must also comply with existing laws.
Finally, international conservationists' opinions on the matter will be taken into account.
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