Seal sporrans

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

OK, the common wisdom is that seal fur can't be imported into the United States. But I saw one eBay seller has the following on his seal sporran descriptions:

THIS SPORRAN IS APPROVED BY US CUSTOMS AND CAN BE SENT ABROAD EASILY.

Anyway, my specialty is criminal law. So, I was hoping somebody could illuminate me on this topic and correct any errors in my research.

Also, one site said the US's seal importation ban was contrary to the WTO.

What exactly is the actual importation status of seal products to the United States? I am asking because I see that Title 16, Chapter 5 Protection Of Fur Seals And Other Fur-bearing Animals appears to be repealed.

http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/16C5.txt
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ht...1_16_10_5.html

Of course, any interpretation of this needs to be taken in consideration of Title 16, Chapter 35, the Endangered Species Act, but are any species of seals considered Endangered Species?

This is the response I received from US customs:

From: "Customer Service Center <customs@customs-mail.custhelp.com>"
<customs@customs-mail.custhelp.com>
Subject: What is the actual importation status of seal products to the United
States? ... [Incident: 081106-000085]
To: michael


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Subject
What is the actual importation status of seal products to the United States? ...

Discussion Thread
Response (Steve)11/07/2008 09:28 AM
Endangered species, CITES, endangered wildlife, plants, exotic skins, animals; Answer The United States is a party in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly known as CITES. This treaty regulates trade in endangered species of wildlife, plants and their products.International trade in species listed by CITES is illegal unless authorized by permit. Items prohibited by CITES include, but are not limited to, articles made from whale teeth, ivory, tortoise shell, reptile, fur skins, coral, and birds.Permits to import into or export from the United States and reexport certificates are issued by the Office of Management Authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Information on wildlife and plants, including lists of endangered species, may be obtained from that agency. Since hours of service and availability of officers from the other agencies involved may vary from port to port, you are strongly urged to check with your anticipated port of arrival before importing goods covered by CITES. This will assure expeditious processing and reduce the possibility of unnecessary delays.
Customer11/06/2008 11:44 AM
What is the actual importation status of seal products to the United States? I am asking because I see that Title 16, Chapter 5 Protection Of Fur Seals And Other Fur-bearing Animals appears to be repealed.http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls...16_10_5.htmlOf course, any interpretation of this needs to be taken in consideration of Title 16, Chapter 35, the Endangered Species Act, but are any species of seals considered Endangered Species?
Auto-Response11/06/2008 11:44 AM
Title: Endangered species, CITES, endangered wildlife, plants, exotic skins, animals;Link: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs....43364936Title: How do I import wood into the United States?Link: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs....03648882Title: Pets - birdsLink: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs....43364936Title: Pets and wildlife, general informationLink: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs....43364936Title: How do I import livestock?Link: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs....ted=1043364935

Question Reference #081106-000085
Topic Level 1: Requirements for Importing Certain Goods
Topic Level 2: Animal Products
Category Level 1: Importers
Category Level 2: Personal Use
Date Created: 11/06/2008 11:44 AM

So, the upshot of this is: are seal sporrans importable if they are not from one of the endangered species listed by CITES: the the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is the body that list endangered species which cannot be imported and exported without permit.

http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html

This appears to be the case from what I am seeing!

Anybody with more experience in this field want to correct me if this is a wrong interpretation, or am I correct that non-CITES seal sporrans are importable into the US?

[JRB]

I have no answer for you from a legal standpoint, but I can tell you that I received a sealskin sporran in the mail as part of a kilt package from a Scottish highlandwear company back in 1999. At the time I thought that seal was banned from importation to the U.S. and was thusly surprised that the sporran they sent me was genuine Greenland sealskin.

[McMurdo]

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that Sealskin was banned for import into the United States under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

[JS Sanders]

I doubt much has changed since I left Uncle Sugar's Customs Service and back then all sealskin products would've been seized if discovered, regardless of endangered status.

Same thing applied to imported dog & cat skins as well.

Someone here who's currently employed with Customs may be able to provide additional info.

Slainte,
steve

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

I doubt much has changed since I left Uncle Sugar's Customs Service and back then all sealskin products would've been seized if discovered, regardless of endangered status.

Same thing applied to imported dog & cat skins as well.

Someone here who's currently employed with Customs may be able to provide additional info.

Slainte,
steve

Steve, when did you leave the Customs service? I believe you were the person I was mentioning.

Also, any comment on what I received from Custom's Customer service? I received that this morning.

[JS Sanders]

<< Steve, when did you leave the Customs service? I believe you were the person I was mentioning. Also, any comment on what I received from Custom's Customer service? I received that this morning. >>

I left prior to the 11 September attacks.

As I recall the law originated within the US Fish & Wildlife Service. American Customs enforces thousands of laws, most of which originated from other governmental agenices.

From what I quickly read, if you want a definitive answer, contact the US Fish & Wildlife Service for chapter and verse.

I've seen a number of Americans who legally owned sealskin sporrans. The sporrans were made from "old" sealskin fur coats purchased at second-hand shops.

Slan,
steve

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Yeah, I thought the Marine Mammals Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1371 et seq) did as well, but the actual act only talks about endangered species. No where are seals specifically mentioned, at least when I did a text search of the act.

As I said in the original post, customs told me that the species protected under CITES were unimportable.

Also, Jay isn't the only one who has received a seal sporran.

I thought I saw something about the ban being illegal under thw World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules here. Actually it was here and the quote was:

Seal hunting and the selling of various seal products is a multi-million dollar industry in Norway. Norway's complaint is that the United States' Marine Mammal Protection Act is in conflict with rules and guidelines set down by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and that therefore the embargo should be lifted and trade allowed. The purpose of the WTO and GATT is to facilitate free trade between member nations but they have no executive power, they simply pass resolutions "suggesting" that countries do what they say. The WTO and GATT both ruled that the United States' trade embargo on harp-seal furs violates terms agreed to by nations belonging to WTO and GATT and called for the lifting of the embargo.

Of course, as a criminal lawyer, I know there can be a big difference from how a law is written and how itis enforced. But I did see another post where a member who was either US Customs or Fish and Wildlife Service made a comment about seizing these.

So, I was hoping that someone with more expertise might illuminate us on this subject.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

It was thank you.

I know that there has been a huge reorganisation in the federal agencies post 9-11 with customs now being a part of Homeland Security.

But, that was helpful since Fish and Wildlife say that only the endangered species are unimportable.

# The Endangered Species Act strictly prohibits the import of the parts and products of wildlife species listed as Endangered (16 USC 1531 et seq.). Examples include: tiger, rhinoceros, leopard and musk deer.
# The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) governs the trade in many wildlife species. CITES prohibits the trade in species such as tiger, rhinoceros, musk deer and Asian bear. Other species, such as pangolin, crocodile and certain snakes require special permits to allow import or export of their parts and products.

Dog and Cat pelts are illegal under the Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 (16 CFR Part 301)

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

These are the types of seals listed as threatened or endangered by USFWS:

Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi), Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi), Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis), and Saimaa seal (Phoca hispida saimensis)

From what I've read, unless a sporran is made from one of those seals, it is legal to import.

[Wompet]

Those may be the species listed by USFWS, but under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (is it any wonder we just say "CITES"?), all members of the genus Arctocephalus are in Appendix II:

Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. The Conference of the Parties (CoP), which is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its member States, has agreed in Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP14) on a set of biological and trade criteria to help determine whether a species should be included in Appendices I or II. At each regular meeting of the CoP, Parties submit proposals based on those criteria to amend these two Appendices. Those amendment proposals are discussed and then submitted to a vote. The Convention also allows for amendments by a postal procedure between meetings of the CoP (see Article XV, paragraph 2, of the Convention), but this procedure is rarely used.

Appendix-II specimens

1. An export permit or re-export certificate issued by the Management Authority of the State of export or re-export is required.
   
   An export permit may be issued only if the specimen was legally obtained and if the export will not be detrimental to the survival of the species.
   
   A re-export certificate may be issued only if the specimen was imported in accordance with the Convention.
2. In the case of a live animal or plant, it must be prepared and shipped to minimize any risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment.
3. No import permit is needed unless required by national law.

In the case of specimens introduced from the sea, a certificate has to be issued by the Management Authority of the State into which the specimens are being brought, for species listed in Appendix I or II. For further information, see the text of the Convention, Article III, paragraph 5 and Article IV, paragraph 6.


Short version - yes, fur seals and their products may be legally imported if they have the proper CITES documentation - export permit issued by Canada (in this case) and USFWS import permit. These items are also physically inspected by USFWS inspectors to confirm that species of origin matches what is on the documents.
US Customs is primarily concerned with whether the item is properly invoiced and manifested, and all duties due have been paid.

Even shorter version - their sporrans may be "approved by US Customs," but if USFWS isn't satisfied they're not coming in.

Gary
Customs & Border Protection, Agriculture Quarantine Inspections