UK Bans Import of Five Coral Genera from Australia

Five genera of hard corals have had their UK import suspended following a decision by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 

From July 2025, no Acanthastrea, Acanthophyllia, Alveopora, Euphyllia or Scolymia spp. will be approved for import into the UK from Australia following a Negative Opinion formed by the JNCC based on a comprehensive Non-Detriment Finding analysis. 

In short, for British livestock importers, the above five corals are now banned from all of Australia until further notice. That means no more Aussie Torch Corals, Aussie Acans or Scolies, and although Queensland has now opened up for other coral species like Favia and Acropora, the new import restrictions cover the whole of Australia, so no Western Australian torch corals like Rasta Torch will be available either.

The JNCC provided the following statement         

“In response to your enquiry regarding the importation of corals and to clarify the context of our decisions, the UK has conducted in the past few years extensive consultation with the Australian CITES Authorities to assess the sustainability of their coral fisheries. 

In 2021 the UK formed a negative opinion for the import of all live corals from the Queensland Coral Fishery (QCF) due to concerns with the sustainability of trade levels observed; however, in light of substantial progress observed made by the QCF since then – including the implementation of long-term data collection systems, improved fisheries management, and demonstrated responsiveness to environmental stressors on the reef – we are satisfied that these measures directly address most of the concerns previously raised by JNCC. 

As a result, we published in July 2025 our new recommendations concerning corals from Australia, including:

1. Revocation of the Negative Opinion: We recommend that the negative opinion for the Queensland Coral Fishery be lifted with immediate effect.

2. Taxa Requiring Continued Restriction: Following comprehensive Non-Detriment Finding analysis, JNCC recommends maintaining a Negative Opinion for the following stony coral taxa from Australia: Acanthastrea spp, Acanthophyllia spp, Alveopora spp, Euphyllia spp and Scolymia spp. (opinions formed at the taxon/country level rather than at the individual fishery level, to ensure consistency and reduce administrative complexity, while maintaining appropriate conservation safeguards).

These recommendations have been adopted and implemented, and the new list of coral taxa under import suspension can be found in the UK government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cites-uk-import-suspensions-negative-opinions/cites-uk-import-suspensions.”

Name changes 

The JNCC works on nomenclature from 2012, so the five genera actually include all Micromussa (previously Acanthastrea), like lordhowensis, Homophyllia bowerbanki (previously Acanthastrea), Micromussa amakusensis (Previously Acanthastrea), as well as true Acanthastrea, like pachysepta and echinata from all of Australia. So the outdated catch-all Acanthastrea genus extends to include many popular coral species from Australia. 

The same applies to Scolymia spp. With Homophyllia australis (formerly Scolymia) being restricted, but also the smaller Button “scolymia” species, whose true scientific name is still unclear. 

For Euphyllia, all Fimbriaphyllia species (formerly Euphyllia) are also affected, so that restriction includes all Australian Hammer and Frogspawn species, including ancora, paraancora, divisa, paradivisa, and yaeyamaensis, as well as the true Australian Euphyllia glabrescens Torch coral.

At the time of writing, Euphyllia (and Fimbriaphyllia), Alveopora and Acanthastrea (including Micromussa) are still available from some other countries, like Indonesia, although there is nothing quite like an Aussie Acan or Gold Torch, and wild-collected Queensland Scolies remain on the banned list since 2021, and will be no more. 

The rest of the world

Other countries like America don’t have such import restrictions, so they can take as many Scolymia as Australia will allow. The EU is subject to its own Aussie import restrictions, and as of the 11th of January 2022, the import of wild-collected Duncanopsammia axifuga, Catalaphyllia jardini, Euphyllia ancora, E. paraancora and E. glabrescens is banned across the whole of the European Union and its 27 member countries. 

So for Europe, an Aussie ban is also in place, but for five coral species in particular, not five coral genera, and the European Scientific Review Group (SRG) has made different decisions to the four countries of the UK.           

What is the JNCC?

JNCC stands for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the UK’s statutory adviser on nature conservation, providing scientific evidence and advice to UK governments and working internationally to help conserve biodiversity and natural systems across land and sea. It acts as a forum for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland’s nature conservation bodies to fulfil their UK-wide responsibilities.