Legality question

[saltcreep]

Originally Posted by lastlight

(Legally) Why is it so much worse to bring such a coral to Canada from the USA than it is from Fiji or something? Maybe I'm missing something. Is it just a USFW conspiracy to make Canadian tanks a bit less rad?

It's not any "worse" exporting from the US versus any other country. The process is just a little different in that with permits from the US proof of legal import to the US has to be provided to the USFW in order to obtain the CITES re-export permit.

Originally Posted by naesco

Otherwise an 'exporter' from China (the USA would not be a problem) could simply ship to Canada or any country illegal corals with only a re-export document and not the original CITES permit. It avoids fraud and places a heavy penalty on the orignal importer to ensure that the coral entered the country properly.

An exporter in China would not export using the original CITES permit. They would apply to the Chinese government (if they are a CITES signatory - I haven't checked) for a re-export permit but would require the original at the time of application.

Originally Posted by lastlight

Oh so all corals that the wholesalers sell to the retailers came with CITES? Sorry I guess I could actually do some reading on this too.

They should come with a CITES permit or an acceptable permit from a non-signatory country, otherwise they are illegal.

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

correct, and it is voluntary, not all countries choose to participate, Tonga being an example (at least 3-4 years back anyway). You don't get a CITES when you import from Tonga.

Tonga is a signatory so you do get a CITES permit. Marshall Islands an example of one that is not, however they do issue permits that are accepted by CITES signatory countries.