Importing Fish

Hi, I know that quite a few members have experience at importing fish from various places in the world. At one stage @Dolphin really offered some nice and hard to come by fish. What I would like to find out is what are all the customs requirement that have to be met. If we can get a group of people together that are interested, we might be able to get those fish we want, but can't find in any of the LFS. Any input from and suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Hi @Kuhli Loach if you are looking to get a certain species or two or three even, I know that Pet Stop is in Pretoria, and they have become rather adept on the importation of many of the more difficult to get fish species, besides being a sponser, Moolis, Didi, and the rest of the crew are really stand up guys (and gals), and will not steer you wrong, thats about the best advice I can give you on this, plus as they have allready done all the hard work, licensing forms etc, I'm sure it is a lot easier to let them handle all the fineprint, and all the hard work associated with importing, they are also sure to use reputable suppliers with great genetic stock, so thats a ton of possible worries, you would not have to contend with.

Other than that I really know as little as you on all the requirments, good luck.

 

I have approached a few LFS with a request for some fish, but without much luck. Not many of them import fish directly from the overseas suppliers, and the stuff I am looking for is not available from whole sale guys. As with everything, it is based on demand and price. Normally the less common fish are expensive, and not so many people are interested in them. The LFS would rather use the tank space for something that is going to sell in a short space of time, than cater for people that want less common species. One example I can use is apistos, you will never see the a big variety of them available at any LFS, as a matter of fact, you will never see them at some shops.

 

Speak to Shawn and Didi at Pet Stop or @Moolis

 

Yeah speak to them, been there several time and they helped me
Out On all my request and won't sell sick fish to you.
That's the one thing I notice about them, I also notice alot of
Betta that they bring for collectors as thIs is just one example

 

i feel your pain khuli loach the selection at pet stores is usually dismal i know some of the sponsors said they would try and im sure they probably are trying will just probably never be fast enough for this impatient lot lol and with our eclectic tastes for the darn right absurd we most likely will wait verryyyyyyyyyy long.

 

Well Oscar, waiting long for the fish is better.
If I was buying a rare and expensive fish
I will ask the right questions like how long was
The quarantine if less then 4 weeks I'd say no.
I rather make sure the fish is ok and under good care
I wanted a l046 pleco but the shop can't provide
Me the details, so I turned it down.. Expensive fish
Can also die anytime so rather be safe then sorry.
Lastly you must understand the lfs also needs to make a living
So I say look at the cost and compare, ask them for online price
Referance and make sure you happy about it.
Cos I'm sure you be highly pissed if the fish is dead on arrival

 

If you are looking for something you don't see everyday, you will obviously pay more for it. And if it is a special import just for you, you can't expect the LFS to take the risk that the fish might be DOA. Was in a shop not to long ago while the were busy unpacking a shipment of marine fish. This included a special order of 3 pineapple fish for a customer. Was told that the order was prepaid for by the customer, and that they were very expensive. One fish died during shipment. It is a risk you will have to take if you want that particular fish bas enough.

 

Hi everyone.

Same here with importing my Betta Splendens, there is no DOA Policy in place, it's a risk you have to take. [mod edit]

 

You can import fish yourself but it's not always worth it unless there is quantity involved. I have done it before and would do it again if I wanted a large amount of fish.
The shipping costs is the breaker. You will also need 2 import permits and the supplier must send a health certificate and invoice with the fish. Then Customs needs to inspect the fish on arrival. If the paperwork is not right then they can decide to destroy the fish. There is also Customs costs at the airport as well as handling costs by the Airline.
It is possible if you are willing to do the correct paperwork but not always worth it. The Sponsors at least have there paperwork in order and are usually willing to ship quantity which works out cheaper.

So the cost involved in a nutshell

1) Price of fish
2) Health certificate from supplier
3) 2 import permits
4) Customs costs
5) Shipping costs
6) Airline handling costs

= Lots of money

Also remember that there are risks involved if you do it as a group - who collects the fish? What happens if the fish arrives alive but dies while in your possesion. Do you have holding tanks to keep the fish in while waiting for people to collect? What happens if someone places an order and pulls out at the last minute? etc, etc

I am not saying not to do it but weigh up the pros and cons. If there is fish that you desperately want and no-one can supply and you are not concerned about the cost - then go for it.

 

Good summary Irma

I think a private guy importing need to import a batch with a lfs to offset some of the costs.....

most lfs can always use a box of cardinals etc.....

 

@Irma, can you please elaborate on the two import permits that are required and the customs taxes.

 

@Kuhli Loach

You need a Provincial and National Permit. The permit for the Province can be obtained from the Dept of Agriculture and Fisheries of Gauteng. It's the CPE4 form and costs roughly R50
The other permit was the one I did not have so I was issued with one at OR Tambo and cost me R260
I paid a further R222 but I cannot remember if it was the Airport Tax.

The best is to phone PB Vilakazi on 011 390 7500 and ask her exactly what permits you need and also ask her to fax through to you an example of the health certificate that is needed. She was a great help to me when I was collecting the fish and did not have the second permit. I hope that she still works there as this was a year and a half ago.

Also, it's important to make sure that the fish arrive during office hours so that Customs is open to inspect and stamp the relevant forms or else the Airline will not release them.

You also need an invoice and packing list from the supplier that needs to be faxed to you ahead of time as well as the waybill once the fish are on there way.

 

Very informative, thank you very much @Irma.

 

Hi Guys,

There is a huge amount of admin needed and experience as well and if you are not someone that has a relationship with an exporter and are a regular dealer, you can make massive losses here. You need to pay for the fishes up front, in other words before they are shipped and unless you know that the dealer is reliable he could dissappear with your money. Just last year I know that someone from the Cape Town area lost R14000. As far as I am concerned, just forget it.

My honest opinion, before you bankrupt yourself please.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Always good advice to show caution Prof.

But if people didn't take risks sometimes, new species wouldn't enter the country and our hobby.....

I'm the last guy to talk, since I have a long road to walk with the readily available species still, but still.... would be nice if there were more variety out there....

 

Hi Jaco, Kuhli Loach and everyone else,

I have personally introduced a number of species into the country which were not here before and some of them at very considerable expense. Some of them have survived, others not.

Then it does not help to bring in species if persons on this side are not prepared to dedicate them to keeping them. you have asked about dwarf cichlids on another thread, and I can tell you that Apistogramma macmasteri and A viejita have all been in the country before. If you want to keep these you need to reserve a number of tanks to them, which is something that I rarely see.

But it would be irresponsible if I did not warn persons about the potential hazards of importing fishes, even the big companies in SA have problems with exporters particularly from countries in South America such as Brazil and Colombia (which is precisely where the interesting fishes are) and also from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. I for example know of a shipment of discus from Thailand that all died within two days of arrival in which the supplier refused to take any responsibility and pay for losses. That was a loss of R30 000. Particularly persons that want to import one shipment only are those that are easy targets and you cannot afford to try to retrieve your money from such countries and suppliers.

So be warned, this is a minefield, it not just taken a small risk, it always is a major risk and you invariably talking about figures in excess of R20000 because most companies have minimum order sizes.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi Prof

Just looking around at the moment, I will get all my ducks in a row before attempting something like this. Thanks for warning me about some of the hazards.

Regards

 

Where are you going to put 4000 cardinals, 400 pigmy corries etc?