New import rules

[sunshinediscus]

I just wish I had a spare couple hundred thousand laying around Rod to set it up, my dream business!

Well i don't think you need that much Clarkey Depends on how big you want to go i guess, but a small setup in a backyard shed, could be done for considerably less.

[jimstreet]

I just emailed this to my local federal member, the relevant senators, ministers and opposition members.

Feel free to plagiarise, I pinched it from here
http://piaa.net.au/news/why-many-of-...p-to-four-tim/

Dear Honourable Member of Parliament,

I have been keeping fish for a number of years and I have recently introduced my young son into the hobby as it is something we can do together. I visited my local aquarium recently and they mentioned they will need to close down some of their fish tanks as the cost of aquarium fish will increase substantially after March 1st 2015, due to unreasonable changes to the quarantine procedures. I keep discus and understand it will become impossible for me to obtain wild discus due to financial consideration of these new import restrictions and the non-sustainable methods of proving the fish are clear from Iridovirus. Are you aware that due to these new quarantine laws, a large number of fish will be required to be killed purely to harvest organs to test for the virus?

I understand despite the aquarium industry importing many millions of fish into Australia for over forty years, there has never been a serious disease outbreak in Australian native fish in our waterways due to aquarium fish. Therefore proving the current quarantine system is effective and does not need to be changed. There are sufficient controls and measures in place to ensure bio-security is maintained. There are also many health benefits to Australians who keep aquarium fish and an indirect side effect of this change may actually increase the medical expense budget for the Government.

I therefore urge you to investigate these changes, which are totally unnecessary.

Yours Sincerely,
Jim Street

[jimstreet]

http://www.aquariumindustries.com.au/news/

We have just been advised that the Department of Agriculture has DELAYED the implementation of the new testing arrangements relating to Megalocytivirus until 1st March 2016.

[mattgoanna]

good news...................for now