Importing Blue Lotus dried herb?

[herbal_hindsight]

Hi, I recently ordered some blue lotus dried herb from hungary for a rather generous price with the rather limited knowledge that it was completely legal to import.

I received the package today but it was empty with a quarantine sticker all over it with a piece of paper inside it and nothing more.

They have labelled it an un-identified herbal material which brings to my attention the idiot who sent it in hungary didn't label what it was?

I will be discussing this further with them but why not label it if it is legal anyway

Seems I have lost what I was so eager to try....

Is it legal and is it possible to contact customs and tell them what it is with the chance of still obtaining it?

They have only given me 2/3 options...

1/ have it destroyed

2/ have it returned to sender at my cost of $42.50

or

3/ treated [not giving me this option]

i ordered 100grams of material but it seems the sender sent me 120gms according to customs..

any thoughts/suggestions?

[G*P]

Yeah,

im not sure on the legality either,

but if it is

don't bother emailing or writing to customs- get someone on the phone.

I've wasted weeks in the past, asking simple questions that are constantly avoided or misinterpreted.

[J Smith]

You say it has Quarantine tape on it so it sounds like a Quarantine issue rather than a Customs one. What does the header on the piece of paper say?

I'm not sure if it is controlled by Customs or not. Even if it is not controlled by Customs, Quarantine has controls over importing plant material to protect against bugs, diseases and what-not and they look upon unlabeled plant material unfavourably.

You can check out ICON here to assist with AQIS requirements.

http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/import/icon-icd

NOTE: Just because something is allowed by AQIS doesn't mean it is allowed by Cusoms - different departments so different rules.

Sorry that I cannot help with the Customs legalities.

Edited November 23, 2009 by madhouses visites

[herbal_hindsight]

You say it has Quarantine tape on it so it sounds like a Quarantine issue rather than a Customs one. What does the header on the piece of paper say?

I'm not sure if it is controlled by Customs or not. Even if it is not controlled by Customs, Quarantine has controls over importing plant material to protect against bugs, diseases and what-not and they look upon unlabeled plant material unfavourably.

You can check out ICON here to assist with AQIS requirements.

http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/import/icon-icd

NOTE: Just because something is allowed by AQIS doesn't mean it is allowed by Cusoms - different departments so different rules.

Sorry that I cannot help with the Customs legalities.

My bad it is from quarantine not customs... that's me being sleepy when i wrote that post

I will ring them tomorrow regarding it but I don't like my chances... I bought this from ebay? Does anyone know my chances of a refund in a matter like this? There is no reason why they shouldn't have labelled it correctly..

Not happy either way I was looking forward to trying it...

100grams for $25 u can't go wrong I thought

[Torsten]

all plant material must be ID'ed by full botanical name BY THE SENDER. AQIS will not allow the receiver to identify the material, so you are wasting your breath if you ring them.

If you bought by credit card then do a charge back. International customs law requires full labelling of all transiting materials, so if the sender elected to not label it then they have a certain amount of liability.

btw, we sell 250g for $65 - without customs & quarantine hassles

[herbal_hindsight]

I payed via paypal but i've left it too long [2 days ago i couldn't put in an item dispute on ebay but now i can't it just tells me to contact the seller]

The seller is claiming they packaged it correctly and labelled it correctly I will be contacting quarantine tomorrow to verify how the package arrived.

I don't like my chances on getting my money back or my items I ordered.

I spent approx $140 USD which really shits me to think I won't receive anything I ordered let alone get any of my money back.

Bad ebay seller list for sure!!!

In the last 7 years of my ebay experience though it is the first time something like this has happened. So i guess that's still pretty good going.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

I looked on the website and you have 250g advertised for $85

I'm afraid I'll have to wait for a while now... unless ofcourse I do miraculously get a refund then i'll put the order in straight away!

[Torsten]

if they did label it then it would be unfair to punish them. AQIS are twits, so assume that they fucked up first. Ask the supplier to tell you exactly what was on the label and where the label is attached to the item [front, back, small, large] and what else is on the label. Best if you get them to send a pic of an identical item. Then make AQIS get the parcel off the shelves and tell them exactly where the sticker is supposed to be and what it says. I've had some AQIS people claim there was no botanical name on the label even though in reality it only had 3 lines of text and the botanical name was the largest of them.

even if you get it approved you will still have to pay $42 for treatment.

[Thelema]

your best bet is to contact AQIS plant division in canberra with your story, try via email [email protected] I think, they can over-ride and probably approve treatment for the item, which the officers at the state level can't do.

[herbal_hindsight]

Thanks heaps huichol_eyebrow!

I will do just that!

Your advice is warmly appreciated!

Peace

[herbal_hindsight]

Thanks for the advice aswell Torsten!

Cheers for the heads up on the $42 aswell!

I'll get in touch with the seller and see what he can supply me with

[Torsten]

your best bet is to contact AQIS plant division in canberra with your story, try via email [email protected] I think, they can over-ride and probably approve treatment for the item, which the officers at the state level can't do.

canberra does not override if the item is not identified or easily identifiable. ie coffee beans you can probably get in without label, but Nymphaea not. They MAY allow identification on the basis of a combintation of things, such as an invoice from the supplier, a statement from the supplier as to the true nature of the contents, and maybe a product picture from the supplier. Then again, you've probably got as much luck with the senior regional officer.

canberra also can't override biosecurity australia. if an item is in ICON then it has been assessed by Biosecurity Australia and you will have to comply with the conditions as set out in ICON [or in the non-public part of ICON].

Canberra is only helpful if an item is not assessed, if the regional officer applied the wrong assessment, or if there is evidence that the treatment should not apply to your product [eg if grown outside of the assumed production zone used in the assessment]. As I said, they do not overrule BA - EVER.

[Teotzlcoatl]

WTF?

If this happened to me here in America every time I order something I'd never do it again!

Every SINGLE time I've ever ordered anything from international locations it has made it directly to my door with no hassle what-so-ever! God bless the U.S. postal service!

Y'all's mail is delivered by Kangaroos right? I bet there IS alot of mix-ups!

[reptyle]

Our country messes with our post instead of our psyche's, kinda fair trade off i spose.

[Thelema]

yup I agree with what Torsten said, that's the long answer for you - I didn't mean to imply that Canberra had some sort of carte blanche over-ride in all circumstances. Nevertheless, like I said, I feel it is probably your best bet, especially if you've got some sort of evidence happening.