taking flytying material to Nz

[garyatstealth]

my brother in law is moving to NZ and has asked me to post the following question as we both have no idea what the regulations are.

what are the laws concerning taking flytying materials to Nz. he has a pretty nice collection of stuff. i know the Aussies are fairly strict with their laws?

cheers
gary.

[skerpieon]

I can only recommend that he contact Dizzy. He had first hand experience not to long ago.

[MaXiMuM]

Or Dean at Frontier's...

[ebf]

You can take tied flies, as well as any synthetic materials.

Any "natural" materials such as feathers, fur, hair etc you are going to have MAJOR problems. It is theoretically possible to have this fumigated, but practically it is too much hassle.

As for equipment, make sure your boots, waders, net etc are bone dry, and extremely clean.

Declare any sporting / fishing goods you have when you land, they are VERY thorough, and the fines are steep...

For up-to-date info, contact the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (maf.govt.nz), they have a Biosecurity dept, the guys are friendly and willing to answer any questions.

[ebf]

oh, most tackle and outdoor shops sell both Metz and Whiting feathers & capes.

dubbing is the one thing I am not sure about, but seeing as it is mostly fur (rabbit etc), I would probably leave that here...

[GrahamS]

Just remember, if anything suspicious is picked up in your container, the WHOLE container is impounded. Not just the suspicious materials.

Be very selective of what you pack. It can make your move rather messy and complicated!

[ebf]

I had a quick look at the www.biosecurity.givt.nz site again:

Fishing and Water Activity Equipment - Saltwater fishing equipment is permitted entry.
All freshwater activity equipment such as life vests, dive suits and water vessels, as well as fishing equipment including rods, reels, tackle boxes, nets and waders should be clean and free of organic residue. See Check, Clean, Dry for instructions on cleaning this equipment. These items must comply with the conditions of the following Import Health Standard.
Fishing flies are permitted entry but all non-artificial material for fly tying must comply with the conditions of the Import Health Standard for Feathers.

So if I understand this the basic idea is that your general kit must be dry and clean, and feathers need a certificate of formalin/formaldehyde fumigation...

[Byron]

Surely if you can get the materials irradiated and then sealed properly marked and certified as such one can move them with less fuss as this will destroy anything living in the product.

I know this is done with dried meat and other animal products (skins and trophies) that are exported from SA to various parts of the world.

Gary - If you want I can try and get you the phone number of a company that does this (PM me). I think they are in Isando but my father will know more. They could probably include the materials with one of their other batches, as they work in huge volumes.

[KevinE]

Eben has it spot on.

It is theoretically possible to have your fly-tying material fumigated. But you probably wouldn't want to chance it given that it could hold up release of the whole container. Irradiation makes sense, but you would have to check with MAF whether this is acceptable and what sort of documentation is required. NZ is very strict with its quarantine laws, they will destroy any material that they are not 100% happy with.

Gary, I think the best bet is for your brother-in-law to hand the material over to you.

[ebf]

From a point of view where you would need to have feathers either fumigated or irradiated, which would be preferable i.t.o. using the feathers again ?

Would irradiation make the barbs weaker or fall out of the stems ? For fumigation you probably get a lingering "smell", but this should pass if you air the stuff well...

So if you had to choose between the two, which is the lesser evil ?