Tough New Wildlife Import Regulations Proposed for US

[shatanka]

http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2013/03/19/tough-new-wildlife-import-regulations-proposed-for-us/

"New law would severely regulate the import and commerce in ?non-native wildlife taxa?
As feared by some in the pet industry, new federal legislation that could halt the importation of many species of livestock and pets, including fish and aquatic organisms bred or collected for the aquarium trade has been introduced in Washington.

H.R. 996: Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) on March 6, 2013. H.R. 996 is a re-write of H.R. 669 dating back to 2008."

..."By default the black list would cover everything not included on the ?accepted? list, including, potentially, thousands of species of fish, aquatic invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians found in the pet trade."

more  to read on the link above....

Dang, that might put a damper on any importers bringing in Altum, Santa Isabels, Peruvians, Manacapuru, etc, and other gorgeous S. American fish! I wonder what that " list" will specify?

[shatanka]

Here is the long and drawn out bill they want to put into law. Can some of you smarter people read through it and make any sense of it? lol Am I seeing things about their making interstate transport of these non-native fish on this "list" they will provide publicly ...at a later time... against their new law too (unless you are a " qualified institutions for scientific, veterinary, or medical research,
medical research, education, conservation outreach, or display purposes.?)"  What does this mean..no more shipping fish, or no more shipping imported fish? I am getting lost in the jargon...

If so, that is going to hurt a lot of those in the industry, isn't it? Won't it put a halt to imported discus, and rays, and such too?

http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/996/text

[sschind]

Here we go again.  They tried this once and it failed so they chopped a little bit out of it and got some of what they wanted to pass (large snakes).

I'm sad to say that I believe eventually something like this will pass.  Maybe not in the form as listed but they will make enough changes to get enough people to go along with it.

What I don't get is why they have to automatically black list everything until it can be proven safe.  why can't everything be white listed until it can be proven harmful?  Oh yeah, I know why, that would mean that someone would actually have to do something.  If they wanted to keep something out they would have to actually prove it was harmful.  This way everything is kept out and no one has to do anything. 

[Frank The Plumber]

Does anyone here know what type of oils were used to keep the Guillotine blades sliding in the keepers. I'm a bit worried the blade will bind and not affect a true clean cut. Vive.