I have been looking at moving to NZ and one of my possible ideas has been to open an aquarists shop. However, I have been told it is expensive to import to NZ. I've looked into this and there is a huge list of fish you CAN import, but they have to stay in quarantine at the airport for 6 weeks (which I assume the importer has to pay for!). How does it work out there? Do you have breeders in the country or is most of the stock imported? I would be very interested in any information or ideas. Thanks

Hi

Have a look a the below link

http://www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/bord ... -02-06.htm

Yes the importer does wear the cost of importation, Vet Checks etc, Quarantine facilities also have to be MAF approved, which would be a considerable cost

There are a few importers in NZ, 3 or 4 maybee

Most fish sold in NZ are imported, very little breeding of comercial quanities is done here,hardly enough to supply Aquarium society members really, and not a great variety

Hope this helps

Best Regards

Bruce

It does help, Bruce, thanks

Another option for me would be to import a small amount or buy from NZ suppliers and set up to breed myself.

There are many importers in NZ, 9 I know of. It is not hard to setup a quarantine facility at all. MAF will check and certify it and you are all-set. I don't know about the costs of certification, but they will only be a fraction of setting up a good facility.

There is no problem importing fish. The licensed importer picks up the shipment and takes it (sealed) to the quarantine site. After six weeks (and some standard tests on the fish) they are ready to sell.

The largest problem faced here is not the cost of the fish. People in NZ seem to complain a lot about the prices of fish. They are a bit more expensive than overseas, but still not badly priced. If you have been breeding your own fish you will know some of the costs involved in producing 'Quality Fish'. You can breed any old poor quality fish quite easily and cheaply, but why bother.

The big problem is the quality of the fish sent to NZ. It would seem that NZ is sometimes a dumping ground for rubbish fish. Some of the 'quality' imported discus in NZ are rubbish. This is not the importers fault as thay have little control over the fish coming in (in the $100-150 price range (retail)). If you want to get better quality fish they will cost more and you'll need to get them from a better source.

The problem with better quality fish is the price. Retailers would be reluctant to buy them as they would be more difficult to sell. We need to start with us the customer and ask for better quality. We will have to pay more for it but we will have better looking and stronger breeding fish. If enough of us push for better fish the demand will eventually reach importers who may risk bringing in the better more expensive fish.

[ This Message was edited by: Warren on 2002-03-28 21:45 ]