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Re: APHIS admitting seeds without phyto?

Title: Re: [GWL] APHIS admitting seeds without phyto?
There has been a great deall of discussion on this in England, from where many seeds come into the US.

I wrote this short piece for the June issue of The Garden.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/publications/pubs/garden0602/newsuslegislation.asp

This was after a number of packets of seed sent to American members from the RHS seed distribution were returned to the RHS by US customs. They have followed up on this and there is now a note on the subject in the October issue of The Garden. They refer members to the RHS website - http://www.rhs.org.uk/seedlist - this is what they now say about sending seed outside the UK.


PLANT HEALTH REGULATIONS

This year all seed, except for mixtures, has been laboratory tested by the
Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to
check that it complies with current import regulations. Phytosanitary
Certificates can then be issued for relevant countries if required.

It is essential that applicants contact their Plant Health Department to check
what seed can be imported into their country.

We do our best to update our records, but it is the applicant's responsibility to
ensure they are aware of the permits and restrictions that apply to them.

The RHS cannot be held responsible if seed is seized by Customs.

SEED MIXTURES

We are unable to send our seed mixtures to any country requiring a Phytosanitary Certificate.

COST OF PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATES

A Phytosanitary Certificate, issued by the UK Department of the Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is mandatory in the USA, Chile, Israel and
Cyprus.

Each individual order from members in these countries requires a separate
certificate for which they will be asked to pay the equivalent of US $10.

The cost of seed testing and the associated administrative costs will be met by
the Seed Department at Wisley.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

When ordering seeds of woody plants, i.e. trees and shrubs, an Import Permit
must be obtained from your Plant Health Division (USDA) and sent with your
order.

So, in effect, they say they're having everything tested (at no charge) and providing phytos at $10 per order.

Since then, things have moved on..,

The Cyclamen Society in Britain has refused to send seed from its seed distribution to the US citing the requirement for phytos but it seems clear from discussion on a number of specialist mailing lists that bulk supplies - eg all the seeds sold by T&M in the US, which come from the UK, and an order of various seeds from the RHS - can be covered by a single phyto if they're in a single shipment.

I often send seeds collected from the garden from the UK to the US - I label the customs form: 'Flower Seed NCV' (ncv =no commercial value). None has been stopped.


Graham Rice

http://GrahamRice.com
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