Getting plants into the USA

[Caryl]

As I have mentioned in other posts, our club has a member who lives in Texas, USA. Paula recently visited NZ and managed to see most of the South Island. She was amazed at the plants we had and said that where she lived aquatic plants seemed to be hard to find. She wondered if she would be able to take some home so, we packed up a few small plants, along with some west coast rimu driftwood, and sent her home (at the end of her planned stay of course) to see if she could get them through US customs. They were declared, she had no plan to smuggle them through.

Interestingly enough, they took the plants but let the driftwood through. They said if NZ had given her a paper (from MAF presumably) saying the plants were ok and had no disease, she could have kept them. Does anyone know how to go about getting such papers? Would MAF be willing to declare the plants disease free? How would they tell?

We will know these things and be prepared next time.

[ajbroome]

Caryl said...

> Does anyone know how to go about getting such papers?

The US, like most countries (including NZ) is very concerned

about introducing new diseases etc. It's possible some sort of

'phytosanitary' certificate was required. You can have a look

at the USDA site at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/

also

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/travel/

for some ideas. It's a bit PDF heavy (I *hate* PDF, especially where

plain text is suitable) but there is some info there.

Andrew.

[Caryl]

Thanks for that Andrew.

Do you want to be removed from our club newsletter list then since it is pdf?

[Pegasus]

Hi,

Got a couple of days to spare.

These sites have heaps of info on everything from pelletized fertilizers to CO2. Hope you find them interesting

http://www.brainyday.com/jared/aquarium/info.htm

http://www.aquabotanic.com/boards/index.php

Bill.

[ajbroome]

Caryl said...

> Do you want to be removed from our club newsletter list

> then since it is pdf?

Actually, you may as well take me off the distribution list. I've

been forwarding it to my work account where I at least have

access to a PDF reader. Or else, you could send me a text version

if one exists.

Thanks,

Andrew, in his new house...

[Caryl]

Hope the shift went well Andrew. I bet you are loking around and wondering how it all fitted into the flat before!

I will remove you from my distribution list.

[Mitsy]

We have an even tougher stance on importing plants. Many garden plant and aquatic plant suppliers can't ship here, sometimes you can't even ship plants intrastate. I understand the importance of keeping out pathogens, since we are such a big agricultural area, but it does make it tough to collect special plants. It is also illegal to collect and possess many native plants and animals (heck, I could get into trouble with just the feathers I have collected over the years, go figure that one) but I still utilize many plants I collect since they do so well in our climate. Dirtbikes can raze and tear up the places these plants grow, but I'm not supposed to grow them? Ah, but that's another rant, another time...

[Ira]

A lot of animals aren't allowed either. In fact I've got one animal that is banned in Cali. A Quaker Parrot. I guess they're allowed to fly to cali, but not be flown.