Environmental Law

Another Lacey Act Case

By Walter James

Contrary to, it seems, popular belief, the government prosecutes more than just Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships cases. 

On January 14, 2008, David S. Wong, a resident of Elk Grove Village, Ill., pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Los Angeles to violating the Lacey Act for purchasing and re-selling a specific species of fish in the catfish family that had been imported illegally.  An anti-dumping duty was placed on Pangasius hypophthalmus imports from Vietnam on January 31, 2003, after a petition was filed by the catfish

farmers of America alleging that this fish was being sold in the United States at less than fair market value.   

Mr. Wong admitted to purchasing and re-selling frozen fillets of the fish Pangasius hypophthalmus, a member of the catfish family, marketed by the approved trade names of ?swai? or ?tra? but referred to in some seafood markets as ?basa.?  The fish that Wong purchased was labeled as ?sole? and imported without the payment of the required anti-dumping duty.

According to the plea agreement, between November 2005 and May 2006, Mr. Wong purchase over $197,000.00 worth of frozen fish fillets from Virginia Star Seafood Corporation, in a series of six transactions.  In each of the transactions, the fish ordered and received was Pangasius hypophthalmus but it was labeled as sole.  Mr. Wong knew that the fish he purchased was subject to an import duty and that there is no such anti-dumping duty imposed on sole.

According to the indictment in this case, between July 2004 and June 2005, two Virginia-based companies, Virginia Star Seafood Corporation and International Sea Products Corporation, illegally imported more than ten million pounds of Vietnamese catfish by identifying the fish to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials as other species of fish, including sole, grouper, flounder and conger pike.  The indictment goes on to alleged that, after the Vietnamese catfish was imported into the United States, Henry Nguyen and other salesman for the two Virginia-based companies marketed and sold the illegally imported catfish to seafood buyers. 

More later.

As always, feel free to contact me at walter.james@jamespllc.com

WDJiii

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on January 22, 2008 (boomark / email).