The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently implemented changes to the regulations governing international trade in sturgeon and paddlefish caviar. The new regulations reduce from 250 to 125 grams the quantity of caviar that international travelers may carry into or out of the country as a personal effect (i.e., without a permit). Sturgeons and paddlefish are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is an international agreement that regulates global trade in many species of wildlife and plants through a system of permits to ensure that trade is legal and does not threaten their survival. All sturgeons and paddlefish, the fish whose eggs are processed into caviar, have been protected under CITES since 1998. The measure became effective on September 15, 2008.
The reduction in the amount of caviar that can be transported under CITES personal effects provisions was adopted at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in 2007. A change in the quota year for export of caviar from the Caspian Sea, Black Sea and Amur River basins agreed to at the meeting last year is also incorporated into the new U.S. regulations. The change to these regulations will bring U.S. rules into conformity with current CITES provisions and help promote conservation of these species.
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