The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA) has created a new guide to help coral traders ensure they are importing and selling legal species permitted for trade in the UK.
The import guide gives a background into CITES regulations and examines the applicable UK laws. It also outlines how coral traders can check to see if the species they want to import or sell are likely to be granted an import permit allowing them into the UK and includes a flowchart checklist.
The guide concentrates on hard or stony corals, rather than soft corals, because these are subject to the most legal restrictions governing what can be legally traded, and from where in the world.
OATA chief executive Dr Matt Bond said: “We’ve created this guide to provide traders with the information and resources they need to make an informed decision on which stony/hard corals can be imported legally and responsibly.
“Not all corals are listed under CITES. All Scleractinia (stony/hard corals) are listed in Appendix II, alongside certain other coral groups such as Tubipora and Heliopora. Soft corals are not generally CITES-listed, so this guide focuses on stony/hard corals, where CITES controls are most relevant.
“We want to promote and support responsible business practices across the industry. We believe that acting responsibly goes beyond simply following the law to avoid prosecution – it’s about preserving the ecosystems our industry depends on, maintaining our reputation and ensuring the long-term viability of our trade.”
Dr Bond added: “We hope the guide will be particularly helpful to businesses in identifying the combinations of country, species and type, for example wild collected or maricultured, that are permitted into the UK, and more importantly when they are not.”
The guide can be found on the OATA website.
