An enforcement regime to stop the sale of illegal invasive species has finally come onto the statue books in England and Wales.
The Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019 comes into effect on 1 December 2019 which means enforcement agencies such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency now have sanctions and penalties they can use to pursue people who sell banned invasive species.
This has been a long time coming, bearing in mind the EU Alien Invasive Species Regulation that lists the banned species has been in force since 2014. But it only covers England and Wales. It looks like Scotland revised its Wildlife and Countryside Act in April to take account of this and we are following up with Northern Ireland for more information on how this devolved administration will enforce the ban.
But at least in England, Wales and Scotland if you see examples of banned aquatic plants or terrapins being offered for sale, whether in a shop or online, you should report them to APHA which now has the power to pursue those individuals and companies with enforcement action, such as fines. And we would urge you to continue to report illegal sales to the relevant authorities in other parts of the UK.
Fish Health Inspectorate has updated the Import of Live Fish Act list of permitted species which are now available to import and sell in England and Wales.
FHI is responsible for enforcing the Import of Live Fish Act (ILFA) and produce a list (the ILFA Ornamental Fish list) of freshwater fish genera which can be imported/traded/kept for ornamental purposes. Where not all members of a genus can be legally kept, this list will indicate either which species within a genus can be kept, or those which can not.
The full articles can be seen by following the links below:
https://ornamentalfish.org/new-enforcement-powers-on-banned-species/
https://ornamentalfish.org/import-of-live-fish-act-ilfa-updated-with-new-species/