International Trading. Help please.

[Plantsoma]

Could someone please outline the process for sending clean seed overseas?

I'm sending acacia from Australia to countries: Poland, Sth Africa & USA. I walked in and asked for customs declaration forms (as i have done bfore to NZ with no problems), and was told by the clerk that I would have to ring the foreign embassies of those respective countries in Sydney and ask what the restrictions were on sending seeds?

Does anyone know if there is a problem with sending Acacia spp. to these countries or what i have to do to send them there?

Or are the fascists at the PO making their own rules?

[gomaos]

are the faschists at the the PO making their own rules..."

just been to the PO today sending some soil-less, root-less cactus cuttings to the Netherland Antilles.

At first the senior PO Lady ( I know her, she tries to be reasonable) said that can't be you're not allowed to send plants overseas, then she looked up the rules for netherland antilles and indeed plants were not prohibited.

However, there was no economy airfaire...

I said at one stage:

"only Australia is so fuzzy about plants..."

I asked her to look up the rules for Germany as I wanted to send some cactus to my daughters in Germany, and she read them out: blablabla... no vegetable matter" and I smartly replied: "Oh well, cacti aren't vegetables..." which caused her to smile crookedly.

So here we are: No cacti for my daughters...

better send them cash for their birthdays....

[ 24. June 2003, 19:48: Message edited by: gomaos ]

[Torsten]

Importing plant material (incl seed) is ALWAYS the importer's responsibility, NOT the sender. If someone asks you to send seed then all you have to do is make sure you declare it truthfully on the custom declaration.

That sais, you should probably also consider that the other person could get into trouble if they import a seed that is illegal or quarantinable. It is however up to them to find out what they may import and what conditions might be attached.

I am sure that some acacias are restricted in south africa, as they already have at least one australian acacia that is a serious weed.

[t st tantra]

i've sent a few letter size packets os and never been asked to fill a customs declaration.

does anyone know the guide lines involved?andif it look like a letter if should get through?

t s t .

[Plantsoma]

By law, if you are sending ANY plant material overseas, a customs declaration must accompany it.

Im not sure what procedure is in place for cheking ordinary mail for plant products, but i'd imagine small letters would possibly be overlooked anyway.

Thanks Torsten, i've sent seed to Sth Africa and declared. So i'll see how it goes

[t st tantra]

they must have reminded the po people of this issue,my friendly small buisnessman is now covering his ass and asking 4 customs decs.

so i guess there is no point sending seeds to the us with a correct customs dec?

what is the situation with nz?anyone know?

t s t .

[Stonehenge]

Hi Dazd

I got the seeds you sent me to the USA and there was no problem at all. Yours went out, wednesday I believe it was. Let me know when you get them. The D.I. you just make some boiling water, drop them in and let sit overnight. Next day you will see lots of sprouts. I got 90%+ germ rate. Don't boil the seeds, just drop them in the hot water and let soak as the water cools.

Stoney

[t st tantra]

i received a package from the us,quarantine stickers all over it,inside about 10 pages of customs docs.desmanthus ill and mimosa sc were seized for return or destruction.canavallia mauritima are held pending completion of import docs.i intend to complete the docs at least as a learning experience,even though i know they may approve it but then ask for cleaning money or similar.

i was impress that they have gone through the motions even though it was a definate case of smuggling,falsely declared as video.though it may be a fishing expedition for my real identity.

t s t .

[t st tantra]

an sab member has apparently sent customs declared seeds successfully to the us,so seeds must be allowed in.

does anyone know the web address for the us list of allowed seed imports,if there is one?my google search could not locate it.

t s t .

[Stonehenge]

The seeds I got from AU to the USA were declared on the customs form and nothing was opened or bothered. The seeds I sent to AU were put in a plain envelope with a little bit of padding and a sheet of paper folded around them. It did not feel bulky and I figure it will slip through but may not. I also figured I didn't want to go through all the forms and then have it intercepted. From what you tell me it would probably have been messed with. If it doesn't make it I'll have to try something else.

Stoney

[Torsten]

tantra - don't forget that the WRA (weed risk assessment) costs $65. so don't bother fillig it in unless you're willing to pay.

[t st tantra]

torsten,is WRA still needed for an aust native species?

t s t .

[Torsten]

nope. as far as I know ALL native species are exempt.

[Plantsoma]

I recieved a package with quarrantine stickers all over it also, package from the US.

Anadenanthera spp. and HBWR seeds were seized, apparentle due to no identification. Mimosa spp. was seized pending re-export/RTS. Surprisingly the Sceletium made it through even though the package was falesly declared beads.

Hmmmm.

[ 09. July 2003, 19:33: Message edited by: Dazd ]

[Plantsoma]

How can i link this page to Spiritplants forum? The same thing is being discussed over there and would be benificial to read both.

The page address stays at:http://www.shaman-australis.com/Website/Shamanmainpageframeset.htm

nomatter which post is being displayed??

Thanks

[Stonehenge]

Dazd, I got your confirmation that the shipment I sent you made it to you OK. I'm glad to hear it. My gamble paid off to send it as a regular letter rather than a package with a customs form. This could only be done with small flat seeds. Large seeds like hbwr will not travel "stealth" very well due to the size of the seeds. I'm sorry your other shipment was disturbed but at least you got the sceletium seeds.

Stoney

[Torsten]

DAZD - you have to pull the page out of the frame set to display the page URL.

This page is:

http://www.shaman-australis.com/cgi-bin/ub...ic;f=1;t=000881

To do this on other threads simply righclick the link that took you to the desired page. One of the choices will then be to 'open in new window'. Click this and you will then get that thread in a separate window with the full URL at the top.

[Torsten]

Dazd - there is actually a fair bit of info at SAB on this topic already, but I'll sum it up again cos both you and someone at EA forums appear to be having the same trouble and are getting poor advice. Check the new thread.