Inspirations of U.S. State Model Law on Invasive Species to China

Environmental, economic and health threats posed by biological invasion have captured attentions of both the public and the government in the United States. All states have relevant laws to defend the threats besides federal legislations, but a comprehensive one is still in deficient. In 2004, the Environmental Law Institute drafted a state model law on invasive species to provide a paradigm for a comprehensive state statute. Many provincial areas in China including Beijing suffer from invasive species but there is neither a comprehensive central statute nor local ones now. Using U.S. state model law on invasive species as reference, the enactment of a comprehensive local statute on invasive species in Beijing can not only lay a legal foundation for invasive species management in the capital city, but also provide a model for legislations in other provincial areas. Finally, it can act as an experiment for future comprehensive national statute on the issue in China.