Perhaps W. Aley could assist. We receive our mail at at a PO Box and APHIS's small lots of seed program requires a physical address. Can't get there from here. Advice more than welcome to wrangle our way through the bureaucracy. On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 2:06 PM, William Aley <aley_wd@icloud.com> wrote: > Every year I find this discussion interesting. > This group is one of the more active of chat groups yet the misinformation > still exists. I'll pass this on to my work unit for no more than an example > of what needs to be addressed and changed in providing information. > After 35 years in the gov I'll be retiring in a year. This may be one of > your last chances to create some change with input to how APHIS regulates > imports. > Lee is probably the closest to providing information. By the way if you > don't know about the controlled Import Permit you are missing out on > opportunities. > Feel free to hit me up to discuss how to import plants into the USA. > Get the facts directly from the source. > > http://ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx/… > > William Aley > Senior Regulatory Specialist, Plants for Planting, APHIS. > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Mar 8, 2016, at 16:50, Lee Poulsen <wpoulsen@pacbell.net> wrote: > > > >> On Mar 7, 2016, at 4:43 PM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> > wrote: > >> > >> > >> A friend and I would like to order some bulbs (in small quantities) > from a European grower, but we don't know what level of USDA permits we > need to do this. My only experiences importing occurred before the present > regulations were instituted, and all I had to do was walk the shipment > through Customs and show the phytosanitary documents. Can someone who > imports from Europe tell us which permits are required, and perhaps reflect > on how difficult it is to get them (probably VERY difficult, judging from > the complexity of just getting the Small Lots of Seed permit)? > > > > I just imported a few bulbs from former (and maybe current) member Lauw > de Jager’s nursery Bulb’Argence last fall. > > > > I renewed my plant import permit, which is different than the Small Lots > of Seed permit, but is also free. The seed import permit lasts 3 years > between renewals and the plant import permit lasts 5 years. > > > > There is a complex way to electronically request a renewal of an import > permit, which as others have mentioned, includes an initial visit in-person > to a USDA facility as one of the steps to set up your account. (The nearest > location for me is an hour’s drive, one way, beyond the edge of the > metropolitan area.) > > However, as Timothy Chapman said, it’s much simpler to just do it the > "old-fashioned" way by filling out a paper copy of the permit application > (which you can find on the USDA APHIS/PPQ website as a downloadable PDF > file which you then print out). Then you fax it to the number given on the > form. Unlike Timothy, my renewed permit took 2 weeks to get to me rather > than his 24-hour experience. However, like him, it *was* emailed to me as a > PDF file. (I used to have to scan the paper permit they sent me into a PDF > file I could email to the overseas nursery when I made my order.) However, > this time I never got any green and yellow labels either as an emailed file > or as snail-mailed paper labels. Also, in filling out the application, if > you list multiple ports of entry (New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San > Francisco, etc.) and multiple species you think you might want to import, > maybe 4 or 5 ports and 5 or 6 species, they’ll issue you a permit that > indicates you can import any allowed species through any port of entry. > > > > Before 9/11 occurred, no permit and no phytosanitary certificate was > needed to import clean dormant bulbs from anywhere, and I did it many > times. After 9/11, the USDA decided to take advantage of a clause in the > plant and animal import law that gives them the authority to impose a > permit and/or phyto requirement even for bulbs—which they chose to do. > > > > Initially they wanted to require a phytosanitary certificate for any > plant material of any kind, including seeds. But a hue and cry went up > across the country from plant people all over, and the USDA responded by > inventing the Small Lots of Seeds permit which did *not* require the phyto. > It is the only type of plant import permit that does not require a phyto > certificate to accompany the plant material. All other plant materials > require an accompanying phyto in order to import it legally. > > > > As several have mentioned, for small numbers of plant materials, I think > it is 12 items or less as has been mentioned, I think an import permit is > not required. However, the phyto *is* required. > > > > So the key to importing any plant material, bulbs, etc., other than > seeds, is to obtain a phytosanitary certificate. As long as you have that > (and the plants are not on the banned list), it’s very simple to import > plants to the U.S. Getting that certificate is always the problem unless > the nursery is already willing to obtain it for you. Lauw actually provides > a phyto as an item you can order on his website along with the bulbs. And > he only charges €10. That is about the cheapest I’ve seen unless it’s > included in the purchase price somehow. Often I see charges of $50 or more, > which means importing a few bulbs can cost more for the phyto than for the > bulbs themselves. (And I think Australia charges in 15-minute increments > which can make the phyto very expensive if it takes a long time to inspect > your order.) And often it seems, I find a source for something I really > really want and they state explicitly that they don’t or won’t provide > phytos at all. (This is when I wish there was an option to pay the USDA > inspection station to do a phyto inspection upon arrival in the U.S. But > that is currently not an option.) I’ve heard some countries will not allow > private individuals to get a phyto, only businesses, which makes it > difficult to get bulbs from overseas friends who live in such countries. I > don’t know if it’s still the case, but Japan has one of the easiest ways to > get a phyto if you’re bringing the plants or bulbs back in person. They > have an inspection station at the international airport in Narita (Tokyo). > You just call ahead and make an appointment for a couple of hours before > you originally planned to arrive at the airport and they inspect the plants > right there and type out a phyto on the spot. > > > > Anyway, if you can get a phyto, whether by paying for it outright or > having it provided by the seller, and a plant import permit, you can easily > import any botanical item. (You can even import seeds with a standard plant > import permit—as long as you get a phyto for them!) > > > > Now, my experience is that when importing from most first world > countries, the postal system hardly ever intercepts packages with plants or > seeds in them. I know this because the package arrives directly to me > unopened and very quickly. I’ve experienced this in packages from England, > France, Australia, and New Zealand, for example. The postal system > apparently is more suspicious of packages from non-first world countries. > I’ve had packages occasionally intercepted for inspection before being > forwarded to me from Brazil, Chile, and South Africa. However, my > experience has been that if it’s a small package, and it is sent > international registered mail, those almost never get intercepted for > inspection no matter which country they’re sent from. > > > > Anyway, the above summarizes my experience over the years with importing > seeds, bulbs, and plants. > > > > --Lee Poulsen > > Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a > > Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/