Purchasing corals to bring to UK

[Jbwhitch]

Hello, Is it possible to purchase coral while on holiday in Orlando and bring them back in aeroplane hold luggage? I would of course purchase and pack on the morning of the flight home to the UK. If this is allowed, what is the best way to package and label, etc? thanks, John

 

[cdw79]

Hello, Is it possible to purchase coral while on holiday in Orlando and bring them back in aeroplane hold luggage? I would of course purchase and pack on the morning of the flight home to the UK. If this is allowed, what is the best way to package and label, etc? thanks, John

For what it's worth, TSA (the law enforcement agency in charge of airport security) is in theory supposed to let you through with them, see here https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/live-coral

Note both that corals are not allowed in checked bags (this was news to me) and that ultimately the agents make the final call. Definitely worth making sure you treat them with extra kindness and patience, especially if it's a busy day. All they have asked me in the past is to open up the bags so they can test to be sure the water is actually water and not any kind of dangerous chemical, so I try to being corals in Tupperware-type coral containers to make it as easy as possible for them to get in and out. Though keep in mind that ultimately, even if you do everything right, there technically is still a risk that you get turned down, however small.

As for international travel, I'm not sure. In theory international passengers are treated the same as those traveling within the US, and are checked at the same security line, so I suppose it is possible to get them through. I'm not familiar with the laws on this, though, as I imagine it might technically be breaking some law somewhere out there. But as someone who isn't educated on that, I don't want to say one way or another. Maybe give the @WWC folks a call if you can and see what they'd recommend. Best of luck!

 

[Jmp998]

Does UK participate in CITES? If you try to import corals on the list without appropriate paperwork, you are looking at potentially significant fines and conceivably prison time. I have no idea what the rules are for UK, but as I understand for instance even taking coral between US and Canada is prohibited (without the appropriate and difficult to obtain documentation).