Motives and incentives for importing
Jane McGary (Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:51:49 PST)

Thank you to Ellen Hornig for her reasoned and articulate summary.

Here are some other things to think about.

1. If small importers and private consumers were able to work through
agents who could batch orders and enjoy the same response time with
inspectors as large importers do, it would add to the cost for the
small/private importers but might make the system work more efficiently.

2. Many of the plants being imported actually are present in the
United States already, but the importers don't know it. Better
sharing of information, particularly about plants held in very small
nurseries or private collections that are willing to trade, might
make some importation unnecessary. This is the motive behind my own
annual bulb surplus sale (which will move to a commercial nursery in
a couple of years), where people can obtain plants they would
otherwise be buying from Paul Christian in the UK or other overseas suppliers.

3. Particularly of importance to bulb enthusiasts, we should
encourage the importation of seeds rather than bulbs. This
drastically reduces the chances of importing pathogens and pests, and
it also allows US growers to raise diverse clones and select those
most suited to their particular environmental conditions. Seeds can
withstand delays at inspection stations better than plants and bulbs
can, and they are less expensive.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA