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Re: [GWL]: Irradiation of Seeds and Plants

> Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 19:15:36 -0800
> From: Rose Marie Nichols McGee <rmnicholsmcgee@home.com>
> Subject: irradiation of seeds and plants
> 
> As an owner of a seed company I'm rather preoccupied with the radiation
> issues and very much appreciate the information many of you have brought to
> this discussion.
> I understand the irradiation will occur at the intake point so I'm
> suggesting we have special mail bags saying "do not irradiate" for those
> businesses who have radiation sensitive material.  We should be able to
> apply for this. Most of us have been in business forever, our post office
> knows us and we have not suddenly become distributors of a problem product.
> I do appreciate the national security concerns but it is nuts to inflict
> such damage to one business sector.  this seems one way to protect people
> allay concerns and let us ship viable seed.

For this to happen requires that the mailorder gardening industry have
an effective lobby.  Not only is an effective lobby required to get the
post office to develop at added expense a new, separate stream of mail
for radiation-sensitive items, but an even bigger lobby is needed to
convince politicians that mail is still safe with a separate,
non-irradiated stream introduced into the system. 

I don't believe that we have a strong enough lobby to influence matters. 
The Mailorder Gardening Association is aware of the irradiation threat
and is trying to stay on top of matters, but can it lobby effectively on
this, I don't know. Here is an excerpt from an MGA mailing to its
members on the 26th: 

---------------

UPDATE ON USPS'S HANDLING OF LIVE PLANT MATERIAL
Due to the recent chain of events regarding anthrax found within the mail 
system, the MGA is concerned about the future handling of live plant material 
by USPS. I have been in contact with Ernest Harris, the Program Manager for 
the USPS Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. I have expressed our concern 
regarding the possibility of mail and/or packages being irradiated, sprayed, 
etc. in an effort to kill the bacteria molecules in anthrax. 

Unofficially, he has said there are no plans to spray or irradiate plant 
material, however, this whole situation is evolving faster than anticipated.  
The Postal Service has established a series of Command Centers with 
Postmaster General Potter at the helm. Recognizing the urgency and 
justifiable concern for the m/o gardening industry, Mr. Harris is going to 
bring our concern directly to the Inspection Service Department within USPS. 
Hopefully, I will have more information to report to you in the next few 
days. 

On November 8, there will be a meeting of the MTAC Committee. Two MGA 
representatives would normally attend, however, due to the sensitive nature 
of this situation, I too, plan on attending. MGA headquarters plans to stay 
on top of this and will report further details to you as we know them.

You may want to check out the Postal Service's website, which has the
latest information on security measures and any new requirements. The
site is www.usps.com

Til next time,
Camille Cimino
MGA Executive Director

-------------


Conrad Richter 


RICHTERS HERBS                     | Info: info@richters.com            *
Goodwood, ON  L0C 1A0, Canada      | Catalogs: catalog@richters.com     *
Tel +1-905-640-6677  Fax 640-6641  | Website: http://www.richters.com   *

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