The following suggests that the 22 Jan 2002 cutoff date may be extended until 22 July 2002 for our Canadian trades...
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 3:13 PM
Subject: USDA ANNOUNCES DELAY IN PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATE POLICY
The regulation that requires a phytosanitary certificate for plants and
seeds does not provide for any exemptions. Therefore, the regulation would
apply to seed imports made by individuals. Our Agency is presently working
towards certification alternatives for seeds from Canada. Also, the
Canadian government requested and today was granted a 6 month extension to
the implementation date for seeds that are shipped via mail. Therefore,
the phytosanitary certificate requirement for mail shipments of seeds from
Canada will go into effect July 22, 2002. For all seeds and plants from
Canada, and all other foreign sources, the implementation date is January
22, 2002.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
James (Bud) Petit de Mange
CITES and Plant Inspection Station Coordinator
USDA, APHIS, PPQ
4700 River Road, Unit 60
Riverdale, MD 20737
Seed Restrictions
Good for Canada!!!,wish they'd extend the rest of the world too....
All that this whole forah means is that they'll be creating a whole new community of smugglers. I doubt very strongly that many international traders will cease. They'll just find ways of shipping seeds without identifying them.
Sad. But that's what government interference leads to.
I have done some calling today on this. The PO had no idea what I was talking about. So I call my local extension office.
They did some checking and told me all they found out was that the phytosanitary Certificate applied to companies who ship mass quantities, they didn't find anything on the home grower.
They did say they would do some more checking for me and call me tomorrow.
I wish I could have found out more, but this may not even apply to us the home grower.
I keep you posted, when I find out more details on this.
Mike
Mike
I'd love to hear the information when you get it please.
I've spent some time trying to find any information I can on the web about this. There is so very little and its confusing.
Today I sent out my last packets of seed to the USA until the matter is clear. Anyone who is expecting a package from me should receive it in 5-7 days time.
Mike, the PO wouldn't know, this is coming from the Dept of Ag. Check the Federal Register [Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 5, Parts 200 to 399
Don't have time to pull it all out. There is some on this in the brug forum way back, but would be easier to call the US dept of AG.
Okay after 20 or more calls this morning I have some news on all this.
The phytosanitary Certificates have been in place for several years but were not inforced on the home grower. This was put in place for large companies.
Now the tricky part, this is now being put onto the home grower but there is a wide gammit of things that will help on this matter.
Before you plan to ship overseas you need to call your local or States USDA/APHIS/PPQ office and give them a list of seeds you want to send. Then they will let you know wheather or not you need the certificate for that country, you may also have to have the seeds inspected.
This will vary for each country, so you won't be able to do RR to three countries on the same Certificate.
So say if you plan a RR to three countries you will have to check the info for all three.
Bad news on the Federal Certificate is that it is for each shipment, and starts as low as $23.00, for you to send up to $1200.00 worth of items for a non commercil permit. No break for one or two packs. And some states have different rates so you have to ask if this is a federal or state permit.
Go to the link below and it should put you into the APHIS site with a map click on your state, and you should get info on your state as to who to contact and ask Questions
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/travel/aqi.html
The contact for Ohio is;
John Burch- international
614-469-2110
John was very helpful and nice to work with and answered a lot of my questions.
Tom Harrisson- Ohio only
614-728-6400
Tom was not as nice and seemed a little put off when I started asking my questions.
For most of us this certificate will not apply as I ask about all sort of flower seeds and the ones I asked about didn't need the certificate. But John told me you should and need to call or fax them your list before shipping and they will let you know what you need or don't need for your shipment.
John told me there was no way he could give me a print out of what seeds could be sent or not, as he said it dose change and you have to check. He also told me that there were fewer flower seeds, but veggie seeds were what he had to most on his list that couldn't be sent. He also said that plants, bulbs and roots had a big list of things that couldn't be sent.
Yes, for most of us, it means an extra step in our mailings, better to be safe than sorry.
There is not a fine right now if you send something you haven't check on but they will destroy it, if they feel there is a danger to the USA or other country.
So I say check with APHIS in your state, on any trades you do with someone out of the country including Canada, even with this so called extension.
I hope this info helps, I have spend three days on the phone to track down the right source for info and this has been a trip to say the least.
You can also write to:
James (Bud) Petit de Mange
CITES and Plant Inspection Station Coordinator
USDA, APHIS, PPQ
4700 River Road, Unit 60
Riverdale, MD 20737
The best thing we can do is, if someone calls on things and gets an okay for those items, pass the word on to everyone here at Dave's but be aware that it is a temp. list at best.
Thank goodnes my wife works for the USDA or I wouldn't have gotten to the right sources.
Mike
WOW Mike you did do alot of work for everyone! Thank you so much . It was really good of you. Bless me I get fed up with some rules and regulations but I guess it is for our own good...I hope! I just hope it doesn't hurt the little guys...as many of these things often do.
Please everyone keep us all posted if you find out more on this....!Well done Mike!