CIT Enjoins Import of Certain New Zealand Fish
The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 28 opinion blocked imports of snapper, tarakihi, spotted dogfish, trevally, warehou, hoki, barracouta, mullet and gurnard from New Zealand's West Coast North Island multispecies set-net and trawl fisheries. Judge Gary Katzmann ruled that the plaintiffs in a case seeking a ban on imports of fish and fishery products from New Zealand and caught using techniques that have allegedly caused the near extinction of the Maui dolphin are likely to succeed on two of their claims.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Katzmann said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their second and third claims -- which state that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing comparability findings to two New Zealand fisheries and denying the plaintiffs' petition for emergency rulemaking. However, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs' first claim, which said the U.S. withheld agency action in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to ban these fish and fish products. Katzmann found that NOAA took agency action when it refused to ban the import of these fish and fish products.