Anyone with experience importing clams wholesale?

[gobytron]

I am not a business.

I want to bring in an order or two of clams as it seems that since the regulations have changed on them, it's just not worth most LFS bringing them in...

I would expect to pay a bit of a premium but am hoping there are enough reefers out there who would also be into getting one or two that I can make it work...

Has anyone got experience with this and can give me a sense of where to start and what to expect?

[Ron99]

Are you sure regulations have changed on them? I would be surprised if that is the case.

[ronau]

Probably not that hard but I doubt many people know how to get it done efficiently other than the importers who aren't gonna share any of that info. I doubt any supplier would consider your order unless you take 100+ clams. Not worth it if you are just looking for a couple clams, just keep your eye open for the ones that come up for sale.

[gobytron]

oh yes.
Plenty of discussion on this.

requires CITES as well as CFIA certification now...for a year or two I believe.

basically it makes it a lot more expensive and a lot riskier that it used to be, meaning it just doesn't make dollars and sense for lfs.

I don't taking on the risk, I am just looking for some guidance.

[duncangweller]

Big show quite often get big orders of clams in. I'm sure you can find a couple you like from his selection

[gobytron]

It's pretty silly to say that no wholesalers would consider an order of less that 100+ clams...clearly lots of LFS used to have no problem bringing in less than that.

Even so, I think I would have no issues selling 100+ clams at near cost.

not looking to make a bunch of money...at least the first time or two.

can we try to keep this thread clean for anyone with any actual experience?

If you have an opinion that you can't help but share, please PM me.

[ronau]

Originally Posted by gobytron

It's pretty silly to say that no wholesalers would consider an order of less that 100+ clams...clearly lots of LFS used to have no problem bringing in less than that.

Even so, I think I would have no issues selling 100+ clams at near cost.

not looking to make a bunch of money...at least the first time or two.

can we try to keep this thread clean for anyone with any actual experience?

If you have an opinion that you can't help but share, please PM me.

You are asking about importing not buying from a wholesaler. A wholesaler will import the clams and the retailer (LFS) will buy from wholesaler. A wholesaler will not sell to you as you're not a business as you know hence you asking about importing.

See the difference?

[DAVE]

Originally Posted by duncangweller

Big show quite often get big orders of clams in. I'm sure you can find a couple you like from his selection

Thanks buddy. Sold out right now, but I will have lots more in the coming weeks.

[TimT]

The reason most Canadian wholesalers won't import clams DIRECTLY from country of origin is that they legally can't. Since about a year ago the CFIA became involved. There is now a few extra steps involved and a lot more risk.
1. Import permit required by CFIA. If CFIA chooses they can inspect the shipment. If they think the mortality is too high they will have NO PROBLEMS DESTROYING THE WHOLE SHIPMENT. People make comments about burning $100 bills. How about burning a handful of $1000 bills?? I used to import clams direct from Tahiti. You don't want to know how stressful it is to wire a 5 digit sum of money to some guy in a remote part of the South Pacific where you have no chance of getting your money back should anything go wrong. ie Shipment sits in the sun for too long and the clams all spawn in the bag and/or come in gaping.
2. Country of export must have a trade agreement in place with Canada.
3. There must not be any reported disease outbreaks from the country of export.

The import permit is the easy part. Most of the countries that export clams do not have the necessary trade agreements in place. Last time I checked into this all the countries I used to buy from did not have agreements in place. As well, Tahiti had reported a disease outbreak of Perkinsus olseni(aka Mollusc Ick) in their oysters.

So this means that I can only buy from countries that have a trade agreement in place... being the US. Most of the larger wholesalers will get you a CITES re-export permit and then the necessary DEA health inspection. Then you need a US Fish and Wildlife export inspection. All told it costs between $400 to $500 USD to do the necessary paperwork for a shipment. Then you are paying US wholesale for the clams and tacking on another $400 -$500 in fees.

Cheers,
Tim

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by TimT

The reason most Canadian wholesalers won't import clams DIRECTLY from country of origin is that they legally can't. Since about a year ago the CFIA became involved. There is now a few extra steps involved and a lot more risk.
1. Import permit required by CFIA. If CFIA chooses they can inspect the shipment. If they think the mortality is too high they will have NO PROBLEMS DESTROYING THE WHOLE SHIPMENT. People make comments about burning $100 bills. How about burning a handful of $1000 bills?? I used to import clams direct from Tahiti. You don't want to know how stressful it is to wire a 5 digit sum of money to some guy in a remote part of the South Pacific where you have no chance of getting your money back should anything go wrong. ie Shipment sits in the sun for too long and the clams all spawn in the bag and/or come in gaping.
2. Country of export must have a trade agreement in place with Canada.
3. There must not be any reported disease outbreaks from the country of export.

The import permit is the easy part. Most of the countries that export clams do not have the necessary trade agreements in place. Last time I checked into this all the countries I used to buy from did not have agreements in place. As well, Tahiti had reported a disease outbreak of Perkinsus olseni(aka Mollusc Ick) in their oysters.

So this means that I can only buy from countries that have a trade agreement in place... being the US. Most of the larger wholesalers will get you a CITES re-export permit and then the necessary DEA health inspection. Then you need a US Fish and Wildlife export inspection. All told it costs between $400 to $500 USD to do the necessary paperwork for a shipment. Then you are paying US wholesale for the clams and tacking on another $400 -$500 in fees.

Cheers,
Tim

Thanks Tim.

very helpful.

I kind of had a feeling that buying and importing from a wholesaler from the states would be an easier process than trying to import from somewhere else directly.

i already have a few feelers out with some of them.

I don't mind paying a few extra points for a middle man....I am one myself by trade.

You see clams selling for quite a bit on this forum...supply and demand.

Paying an extra 1k on top of the cost to ship and purchase seems quite reasonable.