Hi Lee: In the past, the inspectors have inspected the plant where it resided in our nursery/greenhouses. I am guessing that this information provided some insight to what, if any, pests and or diseases the plant may have been exposed to. It has been a couple of years since we've gotten a phytosanitary certificate for export so the rules may have changed. At one time, a botanic garden overseas requested we re-export our tulips after they were pulled out of the seasonal displays. At that time, tulips were either unattainable or very expensive from Holland in that country. When we approached the USDA inspectors we learned they needed to inspect the tulips throughout the growing season (in a field in Chicago) before they would certify them clean of pests/diseases. This was more than we could afford to do - even to help out another botanic garden. Within the last five years I understand Tulip availability is no longer a concern in that country. Boyce Tankersley btankers@chicagobotanic.org Director of Living Plant Documentation Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022 Tel: 847-835-6841 Fax: 847-835-1635 -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lee Poulsen Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 12:45 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] (no subject) I've never exported plants/bulbs in my luggage when leaving the U.S., so I was wondering if it's possible to schedule a phytosanitary inspection at the major U.S. international airports (like LAX, Miami, New York, etc.) prior to departure, similar to how it can be done at the Tokyo, Japan or (I understand) the Johannesburg, South Africa airports? Does anyone know about this? --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a On Feb 20, 2007, at 6:16 AM, J.E. Shields wrote: > Hi Verena, > > There are no limitations on carrying legal plants (i.e., no drugs, > etc.) > out of the USA. > > However, you must check with German authorities on what they require > for > you to bring plants or bulbs into Germany. > > They will probably insist that your plants and bulbs be accompanied by > an > official Phytosanitary Certificate, issued by the country of origin of > the > plants you are going to import into Germany. In this case, that would > be > the USA and the issuing agency would be the local agents of the USDA, > at > the place where you obtain the bulbs. > > This could get to be a little complicated, depending on where you > obtain > the bulbs in the course of your travels. > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php