Coral Import ban ?

[TimT]

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would clear the air on what is happening with Fiji.

The CITES secratariat in Geneva has decided that it will recommend banning trade in CITES animals unless the exporting country has a sustainable management plan in place. This recommendation was to take effect January 14th. Germany immediately followed recommendation and implemented a ban.

Why is Fiji banned you may ask. Fiji was in process of creating the necessary CITES legislation and it was included in another bill. There was a fair amount of debate about some other things in the bill so it was not promptly passed. In the meantime, George Speight gets all upset about losing a very lucrative Mahogany contract and overthrows the government. Just a few months ago a new government was elected. They are concentrating on running the country instead of worrying about CITES paperwork. They will be working toward extracting the various CITES issues and then passing that bill. This will probably happen within 6 months. How long it will take Canada to implement trade again I do not know.

All stony corals are CITES app II, this includes live rock and the pieces of rock that leathers, mushrooms etc are on. All clams are CITES app II. Inverts and fish are not listed except for the leafy sea dragon. But they run about 10K US per fish.

As of yesterday afternoon Fiji is suspended. No shipments of CITES listed animals will be allowed into the country. PERIOD. The US will be following with a ban of there own fairly soon.

The days of cheap Fiji rock are now over. Expect live rock prices to increase as demand outstrips supply and the higher freight rates take their toll. FYI the freight rate from Fiji to Vancouver direct is 3.00USD/KG, the rate from Bali to Vancouver direct is 4.79USD/kg. So see for yourselves, Jakarta or Bali rock will not be as cheap as Fiji.

Hope this clears up any confusion.

If you want to read more here are some links
http://www.cites.org/eng/decis/11/15-21.shtml
and
http://www.cites.org/eng/notifs/2002/003.shtml


Sincerely,
Tim

[SuperFudge]

Thanks for the info Tim.

I guess we could assume this has been along time coming....so could likewise be said for a reversal of this ban?

Marc.

[SuperFudge]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Clam man:
How long it will take Canada to implement trade again I do not know.

Sincerely,
Tim<hr></blockquote>


Sorry,didnt see that....

Marc.