Importing seeds, you need to read this,Defra phoned

[Jeannine]

John got a call while I was out on Friday from defra, something about a seed order, they phoned me today. I have a $127 order from the US that has been stopped. The very nice man explained to me that Parcelpost who have not been very good at their job are stepping things up and are picking up any parcels marked seeds. Mine had a combination in.

The tomatoes, beans, and corn have been held up to see if I can get a sanitary certificate from the company who shipped them, it was Territorial by the way.

If I cannot or choose not to pay for it, the order will be confiscated or returned to the seller.

They will take out the seeds that are OK and post them to me.eg broccoli.

The man assured me that this is becoming standard and within a year they hope to have this in hand.

The bit that really blew my mind is that somewhere in the conversation he suggested that all the  countries in the Eu  don't have the same rules about importing from the US.  Of course I now wonder if I had something shipped to my son in Holland and he then shipped it to me would it be OK.

He is e mailing me a copy of just what can be brought in without the certificate.

He was very aware that there are a lot of seeds coming in unchallenged but said this is changing.He also said that stuff shipped that does not involve Parcelpost may not be challenged at this point.

As I usually have things shipped by US mail Priority post that might be the reason it is the first time it has happened to me.

Anyway I felt obliged to share this with you all.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[Baccy Man]

Most US seed companies will provide phytosanitary certificates at cost price of $50.

[Rob08]

Good to know and thanks for sharing.

I am setting up a P.O. Box here before I move so will continue to get my non-EU seed orders sent here as they are much less rigid re importations.

[Busby]

I live in Switzerland a country that isn't in the EU, this means that seeds from the USA can be sent to me in any quantities without restriction. Occassionally over the years I've been the 'middleman' for seeds from Oregon for recipients in EU affilated countries.

Seemingly it is such a worthwhile business for larger companies that they send their own courier to me to pick up the parcel!!

So be warned!!

[Suzanne]

I took this up with Defra before I began ordering squash seed from Baker Creek, these do not need any phytosanitary certification.

The following link to Defra's importers guide indicates which seeds need a certificate. Appendix A Section III.

www.defra.gov.uk/planth/publicat/importer/impguide.pdf

[Jeannine]

I  now have the e mail mentioned in  my first post, quite interesting, especially the bit about seeds that can be held up and inspected/tested  even with the certificate.

I have know sometime about the cost of certs, and also what and what could not be allowed in but  as most folks ship them around with no problems the point of my post was to alert folks that they are clamping down and so not to rely on stuff getting through as we have all done in the past.

I deal with several companies that will provide certification at a cost of $30 to $80 depending on the company but many of the smaller ones are jjust not geared up to do it.  Bear in mind the cost of the certificate isn't much on a few hundred $ order but it is a huge amount if you have to do it for 4 or 5 packets. I guess this another reason for several people sharing a consignment.

Squash have never been on the list for certification fortunately but tomatoes, beans, aubergine, sunflowers and peppers to name a few are, and this is what most of us bring in, oh and some are banned completely.

I still have two orders to come, so I am hoping they make it, but I will not subscribe to any more international round robins as it would be unfair to the other participants, so I have reluctantly just cancelled two.

XX Jeannine

[Eristic]

It may be worth considering placing smaller multiple orders. Multiple postage costs could work out far less than the seed passport and the smaller packets tend to have fast delivery times. These are likely to be too much time wasting for the beurotics to open and check by the thousand.

Also, if you lose one jiffy bag, while annoying, does not cause a crisis as against losing a big boxfull.

There may be more to this sudden interest by Customs than meets the eye and is more likely a knee jerk reaction from lobbying by large UK seed firms seeing their revenues depleted by international on-line purchases as a result of the weak dollar.

[Jeannine]

It is a good idea but usually I pay one shot postage wether is is 1 or 100 packets and that makes them a better buy. I am just glad I got all the tomato seeds I had ordered for friends before this happened!!

XX Jeannine

[Suzanne]

I think following foot & mouth, bird flu and other diseases we have had recently Defra have come in for a lot of stick about how they manage bio security. So the knee jerk is they feel they must tighten controls. And as is the rule of thumb with most things you go for the quick wins first. After all if you really were bringing in stuff that may pose a risk you wouldn't label it seeds and it wouldn't come from a reputable seed supplier.

However ultimately actions statistics speak louder than real controls. And if at the end of 2008 we are told that there were 250.000 interventions that prevented potential decimation of British agriculture. i.e. they confiscated small packets of certified supplier seeds - who is going to argue!

Sorry for the rant I know it's after 10...........I'll get my cocoa  ::) 

[bupster]

If you were really bringing in things that might pose a risk, you might not know that it was posing a risk and might assume that DEFRA was a load of bureaucratic nonsense and try to avoid its controls. I'm not an agricultural expert, but I'm inclined to believe that if some seeds have free passage and others don't, there might be a reason that I'm not aware of.

[flowerofshona2007]

Having importing plants from the USA i have paid for the phyto certs and they vary from 20-45 dollars !
Have just had a large packet of seeds from Roguelands and they slipped in ok, it is best if they put craft supplies on the packet  ;)

[Baccy Man]

Have just had a large packet of seeds from Roguelands and they slipped in ok, it is best if they put craft supplies on the packet  ;)

I am very surprised your order turned up considering the companies reputation. http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,37478.0.html
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2621/

Reputable companies will not lie on the customs declaration because of the legal implications if that parcel is stopped for a random inspection by customs.

[Jeannine]

I agree with both of Baccymans comments, very surprising that Roguelands sent it at all, but in all honesty I could not ask a company to falsify a customs declaration, and I am surprised that even Rogueland did so. I have decided that in the future I will have to only buy from thise companies that will issue the documentation and make it pay by ordering more things from one source than by spreading it around. XX Jeannine

[ruud]

In my opinion and as a swapmanic.I have never lose a parcel with seeds.One major rule just lie about the contents.Say that it is a birthday present,never never write vegetableseeds on the parcel.Once i asked a customer what was allowed;only dry seeds are allowed.No roots,cuttings,potatoes or other green parts.

[flowerofshona2007]

I have never had any trouble with Rougelands and have delt with them for many years,when they where called something else even had 10 free packets.
I would always get a certificate for any bulbs plants ect.
I have imported 100s of afican violets and streptocarpus cuttings and plants and they normally arrive in great condition and very quickly !!

[Baccy Man]

Jeannine have you looked at http://www.seeds-by-size.co.uk they have a very good range of seeds, it is where I normally get most of my seeds they have a fairly extensive collection of tomatoes & squash. they are based in the uk so there are no issues with customs. It takes a while to figure out the pricing but it's easy once you get the hang of it & the service is always very good.

Admin here ....

I have removed a paragraph from this posting with the agreement of Baccy Man ..

Back to Baccy Man

The only time I have had any dealings with seedfest was a couple of years ago when a friend made a large order which did not turn up & they asked me to help to resolve the problem. As they would not reply to emails & did not list a phone number I had to track down the home addresses & telephone numbers of the people involved after phoning them at home the order turned up with lots of extra free packets of seed as an apology but every single pack of seeds were marked as 'packed for' the previous year which is the US equivalent of a use by date & under US law it is illegal to sell seeds after the packed for date. So I made another couple of calls & got a full refund.
If it had been a reputable company then I would not have had to go to such lengths a single email should of been sufficient to track down a missing order. The seeds would not of been out of date & I have never had to get a refund from a seed company before there have admittedly been occasions where some items have been out of stock, I have usually chosen an alternative rather than a refund but I have always been given the option seedfest never offered a refund they had to be forced into it.

[Just Vegging Out]

I sent a parcel of seeds to my friend in Australia a couple of years back.  The customs opened the parcel and contacted the quarantine officials - who actually made a visit to my friends home.  They realised it was a genuine mistake on my part, but if they had thought it was deliberate they could have imposed a fine.  As it was they are now monitoring my friends mail to make sure no-one else sends her any seeds.  It was only packets of veg seeds and some walnuts and hazel nuts, but Australia are very, very strict about their quarantine laws.  Here in England I also got a letter from the Oz Quarantine and I had to send a grovelling email back to them.  Be warned if you are sending to Oz!

[Rob08]

I sent a parcel of seeds to my friend in Australia a couple of years back.  The customs opened the parcel and contacted the quarantine officials - who actually made a visit to my friends home.  They realised it was a genuine mistake on my part, but if they had thought it was deliberate they could have imposed a fine.  As it was they are now monitoring my friends mail to make sure no-one else sends her any seeds.  It was only packets of veg seeds and some walnuts and hazel nuts, but Australia are very, very strict about their quarantine laws.  Here in England I also got a letter from the Oz Quarantine and I had to send a grovelling email back to them.  Be warned if you are sending to Oz!

That is one of the things I appreciate about Australia and New Zealand - as island nations (rather a large one in Australias case) they have to be extra careful about what comes into their countries - the implications of new diseases on their agriculture or wildlife are potentially huge.

I feel differently about larger continents/countries though as in reality plant diseases have so many ways of entering the country naturally (and I include human migration in that category) so feel that provided the seed is bought from reputable suppliers it should be ok to bring them in.

[Jeannine]

Well I hope seeds can get out of Australia as I am waiting for some squash to come from there and they are in the post!! XX Jeannine