Just because you see something at a store does not necessarily mean that it has been imported legally or is legal for sale in the country. Here is my disclaimer, that statement is not meant to cast dispersions on any LFS that has had them in the past
.
I have spoken with one importer this week and he had indicated that he was sent a notice from EC two months ago reegarding the status of the fish. There only has been a crackdown on the possession and from my understanding came from a complaint back East. A LFS that has them or has had them recently, either A, isn't aware of the status or B, doesn't care. My feeling is that it is the former.
I think in the past, it was failry easy to import these fish. The latin name is obviously the same for both the regular zebra danios and the GM variety. If customs looks at an invoice containing these fish, the only way to tell the difference is to physically inspect the shipment. Until recently, it wasn't being done.