I Think that the trade gets around all the eyebrow raising to begin with by calling them 'zebra octopus'. It seems to be that once they are in the UK or USA that someone starts calling them by their right names again.
The huge price hike also seems to happen once they get here as to import a Mimic direct would only cost me about $20 per unit, yet we see them here at normally a couple hundred $$$
The importers I have spoken to have had different results. One asked me for advice and since I spoke to them have stopped all importation of Blue Rings and Mimics/Wunderpus. Well done to Tom Halvorsen Ltd!
website here
However, the UK's largest marine importer still brings them in and still misidentifies them.
The pet industry, in the UK at least, is going through a huge shakeup, it has many herp keepers and fish keepers really worried about what can and cannot get imported in the future. I have voiced my opinions to them regarding some cephalopods...
FOCAS petition
DEFRA on keeping CITES animals
Here is a recent one by the Scottish Executive regarding importing species which could harm the environment
here weirdly enough snakeheads (Channa) are on this list??? Cant see them being able to live in a Scottish summer let alone a winter but never mind, point is that there are consultations and it is up to people like us to voice our concerns