Recently, our reporter learned from Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau that 12 ornamental fish carried by passengers, including 8 tiger fish, body length of about 5cm, body color is yellow, with vertical black stripes and 4 African Tanzania bream, body length of about 3cm, body color black and white, were intercepted by staff in the Bureau. The passenger said that the fish were bought Hong Kong market and he planned to take the fish back home for cultivating. However, the passengers did not take the initiative to declare and can’t provide any quarantine approval documents. The staff, therefore, intercepted the batch of ornamental fish based on the law.
Tiger fish, native to Malaysia and Indonesia’s inland waters, is a kind of tropical fish preferring to hi-temperature and high-oxygen; African tigia, native to Lake Malawi, enjoys strong survival ability. It’s easy for ornamental fish to carry bacteria or parasites; ornamental fish not from local waters may also lead to alien species invasion, obtaining great quarantine risk. Therefore, live fish was clearly stipulated as the items that were prohibited from entering if carried by passengers themselves alone without approval document.
Local inspection and quarantine departments remind that importing ornamental fish should apply the inspection and quarantine departments for quarantine permit in accordance with the law. The commodities can only be permitted to entry after they got inspection and quarantine certificate.
