Bravo to Jamie, and I will also add an observation that people can do with what they will: these regulations (phytos and inspections required for all seeds and plants) are very easily circumvented. Do people really believe that Customs carefully inspects every packet that comes through with a declaration of "gift", "research material", "costume jewelry", etc? If you do, you give the US government far more credit for efficiency than you should. I would tend to assume that that Customs and the US postal service are, like most government agencies, understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. Also human. If you were in that position, how close attention would you be paying to the packages passing, by the thousands per day, under your nose? I'm guessing coffee breaks and lunch time are far more interesting to the average employee than is the interception of unmarked illicit goods. If anyone in a position to know would like to chime in, that would be great (you can write me directly and I will post it anonymously for you, if you so prefer). Yes, there are possible (not mandatory) substantial penalties for getting caught. If anyone knows anyone who's been caught (and the package hasn't been marked "seeds" or "plants"; packets so marked DO get noticed), let us know. Now don't everyone get after me for breaking the law. I didn't say I do it. I only said it's easy to do. Ellen Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 County Route 57 Oswego NY 13126 USA Phone: 315-342-5915 Fax: 315-342-5573 Website: http://www.senecahillperennials.com/ Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 County Route 57 Oswego NY 13126 USA Phone: 315-342-5915 Fax: 315-342-5573 Website: http://www.senecahillperennials.com/ -----Original Message----- From: "Robt R Pries" [rpries@sbcglobal.net] Date: 09/12/2007 04:37 PM To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Subject: Re: [pbs] pbs Digest, Vol 56, Issue 14 Note: Original message sent as attachment