Beluga Caviar

• The beluga sturgeon (huso huso) is protected as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This law generally prohibits the import/export and interstate sale of listed species and products made from them.

• The United States banned the importation of beluga sturgeon in any form (including caviar) from the Caspian Sea basin as of September 30, 2005, and from the Black Sea basin as of October 28, 2005. No beluga caviar from any country in these basins could be legally imported after these dates.

• The affected countries are: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.

• U.S. consumers may not import beluga caviar that they purchase overseas if it originated in any of these 11 countries.

• Some legal beluga caviar may still be available for purchase in the United States. Consumers may continue to buy beluga in interstate commerce (i.e., from U.S. vendors outside their home state) provided the caviar was imported before the 2005 bans went into effect and the original export permit authorizing trade from the country of origin was issued no more than 18 months before the date of their purchase.

• Since original permits for the export of beluga caviar would have to have been issued no later than September or October 2005, the availability of legal beluga caviar to purchase in interstate commerce would not extend in any case beyond April 2007.

• Retailers who still have beluga caviar that was legally imported before the U.S. bans went into effect in the fall of 2005 may continue to sell that product indefinitely within the State where they are located.

Other Imported Caviar

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulates global trade in all species of sturgeon and their products.

• Legally imported caviar will be labeled with specific information required under the CITES treaty.

• When buying imported caviar, consumers should look for a non-reusable label that contains the following information:

-- a three-letter species code (for example, PER for Persicus)
-- a one-letter source code (either "W" for wild or "C" for captive bred or aquacultured)
-- the standard two-letter ISO country code (for example, "IR" for Iran)
-- the year of harvest or re-packaging