New import rules (Canada)

Diane Whitehead voltaire@islandnet.com
Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:45:33 PST
A delegate to the iris convention here last spring brought a lot of  
iris seeds to be donated to registrants.  The seeds were seized at  
Border Services so I investigated and sprung them, though it took two  
days, correspondence with Ottawa and a trip out to the plant  
inspector's office.

The customs officer had gone through an online questionnaire and had  
made a wrong turn somewhere, because she ended up at a page that  
referred to "seed", a term for small potatoes to be used for planting,  
and said they should be destroyed.

Somewhere in the series of questions was one that asked if the seeds  
were from a plant with rhizomes.  The answer in our case should have  
been 'no', as the type of iris is one that does not have rhizomes.   
However, the officer was not to be expected to know all the many kinds  
of iris root structures, and she was being conscientious.


Diane Whitehead
Victoria BC Canada




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