The future for Apple snails in the UK fishkeeping hobby came under scrutiny lately, after an invasive population was found in Spain.
Apple snails, Pomacea spp. are a South American species that has been found in the rice paddies of the Ebro River Delta in eastern Spain.
Concerns about the potential for Apple snails to become invasive led to the Spanish Authorities undertaking a Risk Assessment.
This has led to the Plant Health authorities requesting a risk assessment on the Apple snail group from the European Food Standards Agency.
Apple snails have already become invasive in the Far East. In a climate matching exercise, with the natural geographic range of the species in South America, the Risk Assessment from the European Food Standards Agency inferred that certain parts of the UK might also be invaded.
The report on the Ebro population was somewhat uncertain and the Standing Committee on Plant Health will discuss a non-paper about a possible legislative approach which would introduce a ban on imports of the species concerned.
OATA statement
In response to the issue raised regarding a possible ban on Apple snails to the EU, OATA can confirm that at this moment in time no decision has been made by the Plant Health authorities and that OATA is making active representations to the relevant UK officials and closely monitoring progress of discussions in Brussels.
OATA has presented some key points against the ban which would prevent the UK industry from losing several hundreds of thousands of pounds annually, and will report of any further developments accordingly.
OATA has kept its members informed of developments since becoming aware of the issue.
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