OATA has created a new guide on help coral importers and retailers ensure they are trading in legal species.
The guide concentrates on hard/stony corals, rather than soft corals, because these are the species most affected by legal restrictions governing what can be legally traded and from where in the world.
The guide provides the information and resources you’ll need to identify 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.
The import guide gives a background into CITES regulations and then examines UK laws that apply. It then outlines how to check if the corals you want to import or sell are likely to be granted an import permit allowing them into the UK. There is also a handy flowchart checklist to help.
