Customs seizure of the products made from python skin

Recently in Qingdao Customs District, the subordinate Linyi Customs House seized 2 drums made from python skin in inbound passenger luggage at local airport. Since this year, Linyi Customs House has seized 25 pieces of python-skin products at the customs checkpoint, mostly tambourines and two-stringed musical instruments, which are now detained by the Customs for further investigation.

As a rare wild animal listed under China’s first-class protection and in the Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), pythons are banned from trade, carrying and posting. The entry and exit of endangered wildlife and their products must be permitted in writing by relevant authority and must go through customs declaration. Otherwise, the smuggling behavior will be subject to customs penalty or even to criminal prosecution in a serious case.