A Glowing Success: The Case of the GloFish^TM

After the success of the Disney blockbuster Finding Nemo, tropical fish became all the rage during Christmas 2003. Public demand was heavy and tropical fish were selling out fast.

To capitalize on this bourgeoning market, one United States company developed GloFish^TM – the first commercialized genetically modified pet in North America. The GloFish^TM was a common zebra aquarium fish with an inserted red fluorescent coral gene.

Once Environment Canada's Enforcement Branch became aware of the fish's existence they realized that the Department could have a serious problem on its hands if fish sales moved north. As a new product of biotechnology, the GloFish^TM fell within the scope of the New Substances Notification Regulations (NSNR) under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).

As part of the life cycle management approach for toxic substances laid out in the Act, the NSNR were created to ensure that no new substances (chemicals, polymers or animate products of biotechnology) are introduced into the Canadian marketplace before an assessment of whether they are potentially toxic has been completed, and any appropriate or required control measures are taken.

GloFish^TM soon began to be imported into Canada to meet the new demand but no notification or environmental assessment had been made as required under the NSNR. These illegal imports were quickly detected by the Enforcement Branch and an action plan to prevent illegal imports and to deal with any existing GloFish^TM already in Canada was quickly devised by personnel for immediate implementation.

The action plan had three main objectives. First, compliance promotion activities aimed to inform United States producers/distributors and Canadian pet retailers that importing GloFish^TM into Canada was illegal. Second, the fish were prohibited to go through Canadian Border crossings. Third, enforcement officers conducted inspections of any suspected Canadian importers and retailers/distributors of GloFish^TM.

While people in the pet fish industry were aware of the fish, they did not realize that importing the GloFish^TM contravened Canadian regulations. Consequently, an aquarium fish distributor in Quebec City began selling the fish.

When contacted by Environment Canada enforcement officers, the distributor agreed to recall the fish and to store them in their warehouse. Pet shops were also very cooperative and store owners were asked to contact clients for return of fish.

Beyond the recall, nearly 30 inspections were conducted in Quebec. All GloFish^TM in pet stores, approximately 200 fish, were seized.