March 4, 2020 10:28 am AEDT

Litao Xu was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday 3 March and is the first person to be convicted for illegally importing bear bile into the country.

In April 2018, Xu brought twelve vials of bear bile crystals into New Zealand from China and failed to declare them. Customs officers located the vials, which forensic testing proved to be Asiatic black bear bile.
This species is protected under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Xu was taken to court by DOC and pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal import under the Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989 in September 2019.
Yesterday she was convicted of trading in a threatened species without a permit and fined $7,500 and ordered to pay court costs.

Judge Blackie described the illegal trade in bear bile as a serious issue that threatens…