Livestock from the US to Canada.

[freddy]

Yeh but since you are in surrey and I am 9-10hrs away you don't have to pay the shipping costs.If shipping cost's go down then I would glady buy from them.

[Myka]

You need a Fish & Wildlife permit (~$200 regardless of order size) for all marine ornamental livestock. Anything requiring a CITES permit (all LPS and SPS corals, seahorses, clams) is nearly impossible to import because most vendors will not be willing or able to do the CITES application for you (seller has to do it) unless your order is very large and they have done the process before. Plus you usally have to pay customs duties for buying outside of Canada. In all honesty, it is easier to order from the Philippines (or ANYWHERE else) than the USA because the country of origin just needs a simple CITES permit where importing from the USA requires a RE-export permit since the livestock didn't originate in the USA. They don't recognize aquacultured fish or corals as originating in the USA or Canada either btw.

You can ignore all this and just drive through the border hoping for the best, but that is called smuggling and can result in huge fines, jail time, and a criminal record.

Back in the 90's I used to drive across the border (we lived near a very small border crossing) and brought all sorts of stuff back all the time. I did notice later in the 90's they started asking more questions and I was more likely to have to pay customs duties.

[darb]

Just did a run on Saturday.

Pulled up to the booth and got asked what's in the box and told her. Got sent into the office with a yellow slip of paper. Spoke with a CBSA rep, he asked me for a list of the names, I gave it to him and he told me to take a seat.

A few minutes later he returned and said they were all good to be brought in and proceeded to tell be about the AIRS website and said if you want to save yourself some time, next time, run the names yourself and bring the printouts.

And BTW, I shopped online for one primary reason: I got three fish at once that I had been looking for, for a while. There is pretty much only one decent marine store in vancouver these days ...

[Myka]

Originally Posted by darb

A few minutes later he returned and said they were all good to be brought in and proceeded to tell be about the AIRS website and said if you want to save yourself some time, next time, run the names yourself and bring the printouts.

I'm not really sure what the AIRS website is all about...I typed in Hippocampus erectus (which requires CITES permit) and the website mentions nothing about CITES. I'm not sure what the CFIA has to do with the importation of ornamental fish - unless they are food fish. It seems any time I deal with a CBS officer there is a different story. It can be frustrating.