It's not on a banned list, but it is a CITES article II, and as the US is a member nation, we have to uphold the regulations and quotas set forth by CITES. There is no clause in CITES for "pets", so the idea of bringing CITES article II corals into the states as "pets" doesn't fly.
corals brought back from japan
- Thread starter Creetin
- Start date
I know us fish and wildlife has a set of rules of their own i have a family member that used to enforce borders (retired now)
I talked to customs officials and left messages with inspectors. (None whom returned my calls) The officials didnt see a problem with it. We will see. It will be declared and it will be handled in a honest manner.
I'll post about it when it hapens, and yes i'll post pics.
pdimarco thanks. Every official that i talked to in US customs seemed to have the same attitude.
I will look into it further and if i ever get ahold of the us inspector from the japan inbound customs, I'll ask him about the subject.
I left another message with a diff officer today. I am confident i'll find out soon.
Thanks
I talked to customs officials and left messages with inspectors. (None whom returned my calls) The officials didnt see a problem with it. We will see. It will be declared and it will be handled in a honest manner.
I'll post about it when it hapens, and yes i'll post pics.
pdimarco thanks. Every official that i talked to in US customs seemed to have the same attitude.
I will look into it further and if i ever get ahold of the us inspector from the japan inbound customs, I'll ask him about the subject.
I left another message with a diff officer today. I am confident i'll find out soon.
Thanks
Last edited:
Afishianado
New member
I do remember that there is a clause for noncommercial private use. That you can import this way. I am sure of the clasue, I am almost sure of the way it reads.
Gresham is correct that all corals and anemones are classified as Cnidarians and as such are protected CITES article II species.
Ultimately the wording of the agreement is vauge enough to allow you to do this, But specific enough to prevent you from running a business and doing it without the proper paperwork.
Gresham is correct that all corals and anemones are classified as Cnidarians and as such are protected CITES article II species.
Ultimately the wording of the agreement is vauge enough to allow you to do this, But specific enough to prevent you from running a business and doing it without the proper paperwork.
Shall I dig up the local cases for you that have been busted here in SF for doing just this? The corals where held at my friends facility for US F&W S. Guess who busted them? joint effort between Customs and US F&WS. Why? They didn't have docs. No fines, no jail, but the gave up the shipments, and are now flagged by Customs, plus, they can never apply for an import licence from US F&W S.
Your more then welcome to try though. I'm only speaking from being an importer for a decade with a vast understanging of the rules/regs.
Anthony Calfo
New member
Gresham is correct.
"Personal use"/"pets" only applies to legal or unregulated animals. Protected (regulated) animals such as stony corals from a CITES (charter no less) nation are not fair game
Please don't smuggle protected animals
They are protected for good reason.
Are we truly emapthetic reef lovers here with care for the welfare of the organisms we study and keep, or do you admit to these organisms being merely a consumable commodity? If the latter, I cannot even wish you good luck. Rather, I wish you enlightenment.
"Personal use"/"pets" only applies to legal or unregulated animals. Protected (regulated) animals such as stony corals from a CITES (charter no less) nation are not fair game
Please don't smuggle protected animals
They are protected for good reason. Are we truly emapthetic reef lovers here with care for the welfare of the organisms we study and keep, or do you admit to these organisms being merely a consumable commodity? If the latter, I cannot even wish you good luck. Rather, I wish you enlightenment.
bkiba
Premium Member
You could try swallowing it inside the plastic bag and then "passing" it after you land. Works for the drug mules from Columbia.
This sounds like a hairy situation, unless you get written, notarized, official clearnace to try this I wouldn't give it another thought. I get harassed for brining choclates back from Germany when I go.
Just hope that one day we will be able to get a better system globally for trading livestock, until then, stick with your florida rics and brains
This sounds like a hairy situation, unless you get written, notarized, official clearnace to try this I wouldn't give it another thought. I get harassed for brining choclates back from Germany when I go.
Just hope that one day we will be able to get a better system globally for trading livestock, until then, stick with your florida rics and brains
yardboy
Advanced Bewilderment
I completely agree with Calfo and Gresham and actually everybody else but don't quite understand why, if the corals are legally collected, imported into Japan, and sold in a store to me, why I can't bring them back into the States with me. I understand if I found a pretty coral while diving in Japan, collected it and snuck it into the U.S. in my underwear that I would likely get my butt busted, and deservedly so, but not the other. I know, because I've seen, some of the unbelievably beautiful corals for sale in for instance Hong Kong. I would have grabbed some then if I'd been going straight home as they were exporting them to other countries from there.
It already irks me that people in California have better access to corals than I do in Flordia!
It already irks me that people in California have better access to corals than I do in Flordia!
sfsuphysics
Active member
I thought corals (atleast the really nice ones) were quite expensive in Japan, why bother with buying over there? 
Anthony Calfo
New member
fair question indeed yardboy... a simplified explanation will hopfully work/help here:
countries like Australia and Japan/early CITES charter members, got smart early and clamped down on the collection and/or export of their corals. A primary focus is preventing sovereign national resources/treasures from leaving the country. Furthermore, the hobby trade in corals in these two example countries is insignificant compared to the US demand for corals. So... an aquarist in-country (Japan/Australia) can enjoy this small market privelege of keeping corals... there are only so many pieces that can/will be demanded. But if they allowed the export these pieces (by carriage in underwear or proper cargo containers) the proverbial floodgates would be opened to global demand for their protected resources from much larger markets that could put serious if not irreparable pressures on various species.
Bottom line is... if you are not living in Japan, you will not be (legally) enjoying the keeping of Japanese corals
countries like Australia and Japan/early CITES charter members, got smart early and clamped down on the collection and/or export of their corals. A primary focus is preventing sovereign national resources/treasures from leaving the country. Furthermore, the hobby trade in corals in these two example countries is insignificant compared to the US demand for corals. So... an aquarist in-country (Japan/Australia) can enjoy this small market privelege of keeping corals... there are only so many pieces that can/will be demanded. But if they allowed the export these pieces (by carriage in underwear or proper cargo containers
) the proverbial floodgates would be opened to global demand for their protected resources from much larger markets that could put serious if not irreparable pressures on various species.Bottom line is... if you are not living in Japan, you will not be (legally) enjoying the keeping of Japanese corals
yardboy
Advanced Bewilderment
Well, that's good news to hear, but I'm sure that there's still plenty of wild stuff coming into the country through California, where there's a hoard of propagators waiting to snap it up!
Maybe I won't feel so inferior to Japanese reefers when I suspect there's a likelihood those big tables I see living in their tanks are likely wild caught and not grown from frags.
Must be nice to be able to reserve the corals in your country for your people and still purchase stuff from the South Pacific too!
But wait Calfo, in your example it sounds like the real stopper is export from Japan, not import into the U.S.? So wouldn't your biggest risk be confiscation when leaving Japan?
As a sideline question, since that's what I was misunderstanding anyway(I wasn't really aware that any corals were collected in Japan), If I went to Hong Kong and bought a bunch of stuff (beautiful and cheap) that had come from Fiji, would it be very easy to bring it back into the U.S?
Assumptions
Sorry, he was not a friend of mine. The wholesale facility that US F & W S asked to tend to the corals until they could be shipped to a public aquarium in Los Angeles is owned by friends of mine.
Besides the fact I never said the dude was going to sell them. I actually highly doubt it, as it was only 3 corals and the cost of bringing them in like that would negate any profit the dude would have made.
