AR-News: (NZ) Stopped at the border

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

By TONY ENDERBY 
Standing in the customs hall at the end of a holiday always brings on a state 
of semi-dormancy. 
A few words from a customs officer, "Can you open all your bags please?" and 
the dormancy vanishes. The couple in front of us exchange a look of 
near-panic. "What's in our cases that we shouldn't have?" 
Among the jumble of holiday-worn clothes are two parcels. 
"We don't have any food here, just two clam shells we bought at the market," 
the woman says as she unwraps them. By now many of us have seen similar scenes 
on TV's Border Patrol - we know what's coming. 
"Do you have a certificate of export?" the customs officer asks. "Clam shells 
are a controlled import under the CITES (Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) agreement." 
"No, why are they controlled? There were hundreds of them for sale." 
The customs man's response is food for thought. "How many live clams did you 
see on the reefs?" 
This isn't a good time to debate the health of the world's coral reefs. They 
just want to get through customs and go home. 
But his comment makes us think - we didn't see many living clams on the 
reefs. Perhaps the reason is directly related to the number for sale in the shops. 
"We will confiscate the shells and you have 90 days to get a retrospective 
certificate of import if you want to reclaim them," he continues. 




full story:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/travelstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3505026&thesec
tion=travel&thesubsection=business&thesecondsubsection= 
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