The State Duma adopted on April 6 in second and third readings a law on criminal liability of up to nine years in prison for the illegal collection, trafficking and destruction of plants and fungi listed in the Red Book or protected by international treaties. Document published in the electronic database of the lower house of parliament.
According to the bill, for the illegal extraction, purchase, storage, transport or sale of plants and fungi that have fallen into the Red Book, will incur up to four years in prison and a fine of up to up to 1 million rubles. If the same actions are committed using the official position, as well as with a public demonstration of these actions on the Internet or in the media – up to six years in prison and a fine of up to 2 million rubles.
Citizens who illegally acquire or sell these plants or mushrooms via the Internet or the media, as well as acting in an organized group or prior conspiracy, will be punished up to nine years in prison and a fine of up to 3 million rubles .
The explanatory note to the bill notes that in recent years in some regions of Russia the number of cases of destruction of rare plant species listed in the Russian Red Book has increased. This problem is especially relevant, in particular, in the Far East, in Altai, as well as in the Crimea, follows from the document.
In some cases, rare plants with medicinal properties are destroyed in order to sell them to other countries: for example, in the territories of Khabarovsk and Primorsky, a parallel trade is developing for extraction and smuggling to China’s genuine ginseng root (Panax ginseng), which is listed in the Red Book, the lawmakers added. In particular, in September 2022, customs officials stopped an attempt to smuggle this plant into China in an amount of more than 8.5 kg and worth more than 14 million rubles.
In addition, in Crimea and Sevastopol, plantations of pistachio trees (Pistacia mutica) are cut down, the bill says.
In the red book do plants, fungi and animals that are on the verge of extinction in Russia. Species, subspecies and entire populations are included in the document.
