I have just read a post on GW telling people not to trade with people in Europe because of Foot & Mouth. It says this is illegal.
The information in this post is completely inaccurate. It is posted by Spike, but I don't know if that is THE Spike, but I think it must be as there is no place to post a reply to the message so he must have made it so people can't put forward a different point of view.
There is another post now. It says this:
'MOST countries in Europe do NOT have any Foot & Mouth disease. Europe is a big area, as is the US. Would you think a post was helpful if it instructed people not to trade with anyone anywhere in the US if there were some disease affecting only Texas and Ohio?
By all means, trade responsibily, but also post responsibly, and do not post inaccurate information with the aim of preventing other people doing something which may be perfectly legal and responsible.'
This second post gives the correct information. I have copied it here as it may not be on GW later. I hope people won't be put off trading because of the misleading post.
CLOSED: Trading with Europe
Thank you, Mary- I too saw the post of Spike's at the garden web, the day after I had just mailed off three packages to Europe! This is the kind of misinformed ad that causes people to panic and act without getting all the correct information- thank you for setting us straight and personally for easing my mind!
I too saw that bit of paranoia by Spike and couldnt make a direct reply (since done so separately though). Thanks to mary for pointing me at this site.
A couple of people posted threads to this effect on the GW forum but have been removed in a matter of a few hours.
Thank you Mary for your post, there is a lot of scare mongering going on out there.
Thanks everyone for bringing sanity back into the equasion.
As for reading the postings on Gardenweb Plant Exchange about trading with Europe..........................
Chilligilly
I see you made it to Daves too, welcome.
Calalily
Mary, this'll make you smile. After the dire warnings on GW about what US Customs might do to almost anything posted from the UK, I got am e-mail this morning from the US that made me feel a whole lot better. Last week I sent a large padded envelope full of seeds (it even rattled) to a GW trader, who confirmed that it had arrived OK and had not been trashed (as I feared) by the men in the uniforms.
See, I told you there is a Santa Claus !
El Tel
I found an official EU site last night, and the current figures for F&M (the Pirbright site said it should not be called Hoof & Mouth, as it does not occur in the hoof, as this is dead tissue) are UK 1452, Netherlands 26, France 2, Ireland 1. With 16 countries in the EU and over 40 in all of Europe, I think someone's geography is a little shaky.