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Java fern on import plant list !!!


Benjansss

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I checked some time back and if I remember correctly, it actually wasn't on the MPI's PBI import list. Although it's listed as "Requires assessment".

What process did you go through to get it added?

To be honest, plant imports are pretty uncommon nowadays. All aquatic plants require a quarantine facility with some strict rules and 3-6 month QT. Unfortunately even if a plant is allowed in the country, it doesn't mean that it will come in to the country.

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Microsorum pteropus is all the same species: "an aquatic fern from southeast Asia, is highly variable with several different geographic varieties that vary in leaf size and shape".

The different varieties haven't been 'unallowed' as such, they're just harder to come by in NZ. I had a piece of trident not that long ago, given to me as normal java fern. As Alex mentioned, it's mostly because people just don't do plant imports often anymore.

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Just to clarify (as I didn't know about the PBI list and I imagine a lot of people don't), MPI has a "PBI import list" which can be found here, and is separate to both NIWA's and FNZAS's list of banned/allowed aquatic plants. However, just because it's not allowed in to the country, doesn't mean it's illegal to keep (otherwise MPI would have a pretty big job to do...). I honestly don't know who determines what's legal once it's actually in the country.

The following on FNZAS's list don't match up to MPIs:

Alternanthera reineckii needs to be imported under "Alternanthera roseacefolia" (even though they've got it listed with the wrong spelling of the Var too)

Cryptocoryne affinis isn't on the list

Heteranthera zosteraefolia is not on the list

Limnophila sessiliflora is not on the list

Lobelia perpusilla is not on the list (oddly, even though most/all natives are)

Microsorum pteropus is still under "requires assessment", but when I last checked it was not on the list

Riccia fluitans is not on the list

Ricciocarpos natans is not on the list (a second native not on the list for some reason)

Sagittaria subulata is banned from import

Shinnersia rivularis is not on the list (I've not seen it here anyway)

Wolffia arrhiza is not on the list

Anubias minima is not on the list

Aponogeton rigidifolius is not on the list

Bolbitis heudelotii is not on the list

Cabomba caroliniana is not on the list

Cyperus helferi is not on the list

Echinodorus barthii is not on the list

Echinodorus horizontalis is not on the list

Mayaca fluviatilis is not on the list

Hemianthus umbrosum is not on the list

Hygrophila lacustris is not on the list

Limnophila aromatica is not on the list

Ludwigia arcuata is not on the list

Ludwigia glandulosa is not on the list

Ludwigia helminthorrhiza is not on the list (though I need to go about getting some of this again, it was super cute)

Nitella isn't on the list but being an algae I doubt it would be

Hemianthus micranthemoides is not on the list

Samolus floribundus is not on the list

Utricularia exoleta is not on the list

Vallisneria tortifolia is not on the list

Vesicularia montagnei and Vesicularia dubyana are not on the list, but I was unable to find any aquatic mosses on the list.

Fun facts:

Lilaeopsis ruthiana and Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae are the only two on the list

The only Aponogeton species allowed in are A crispus, A distachyus and A ulvaceus

Vallisneria spiralis is under requires assessment which is the same category as a lot of the "allowed" plants and is not currently banned for import.

There are many Crinum species on the list, including Crinum calamistratum, but are a rare find here.

MPI updates the list when needed (as opposed to for funsies/for the sake of accuracy).

Adding a plant species to the list is a bit of a long process - first it involves going through the EPA and proving that the plant is already established in the trade. I've not gone to find out what the process is for plants that aren't yet in the country, but I imagine it's a bit of a mission.

Even though Java fern is now on the list, it's still under "requires assessment" and would, well, require assessment. I don't know whether that's a one-off or on a case-by-case basis.

But yeah, basically, even though it's not illegal to keep, that doesn't mean it was legal to import (I suspect most of our plants were brought in illegally based on the list above). But just because it's legal to import, doesn't mean it will be imported. A Level 2 Aquatic quarantine facility isn't exactly cheap to set up, to run, and a 6 month QT is a big investment for plants.

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In order to avoid the extra costs I would import it grown in a pot emerged so normal plant rules ably

I've not heard of them being lenient on how they are quarantined other than the "Aquatic Plant" requirements. But you still need a quarantine facility. And I believe an import permit, and a phytosanitary certificate and a billion different things.

RE EPA: I contacted MPI a while back in regards to adding plants to the list, and this was the response I received: "You must directly approach the EPA to have new plants added. This may be relatively easy, or difficult, depending on the status of the species as to presence."

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They said the email was confidential and when I'm older I get a professional plant importer and in a pot of dirt duh

I put a $50.00 bet down that this will never happen. Been there tried that. You will end up spending in excess of $500.00 for one species of plant in which you will never make that money back. I don't think you quite understand how difficult it is to import aquatic plants compared to fish...

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Well thats really interesting to hear.

I hope it was a genuine response and that they send all the necessary information through. :)

They were surprisingly helpful, and helped to direct me to those I needed to contact about it :) Unfortunately my little project is being postponed for a while, but they were definitely willing to help when I contacted them.

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They said the email was confidential and when I'm older I get a professional plant importer and in a pot of dirt duh

If the email from them is confidential then you have kind of broken the whole deal by talking about it on here. Any one of us could phone and ask them about it now.

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I put a $50.00 bet down that this will never happen. Been there tried that. You will end up spending in excess of $500.00 for one species of plant in which you will never make that money back. I don't think you quite understand how difficult it is to import aquatic plants compared to fish...

I don't think under stand what I'll do I'll import grown emerged so normal plant rules would apply

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I don't think under stand what I'll do I'll import grown emerged so normal plant rules would apply

Have they said to you that they can be imported as normal plants (eg no Aquatic Plant Quarantine) when grown emersed, or have you assumed that?

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I'm not sure what EPA has to do with things being added to the list. That is under MPI control.

You have to go to EPA to approve new organism just like fish, then once they approve it then MPI do a disease risk.

Nice to get it approved, however unlikely plants will ever be imported.

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