That's my question really. Specifically, who - within the US - can obtain a phytosanitary certificate to send plant material outside the US?

Any details, like what the costs and procedures might be, would be much appreciated.

....

Ok - maybe I should have asked... how does an ordinary gardener (not a nursery) get a phyto to send something overseas from the US?

o.O

Thanks for any illumination.

It is not simple; there are requirements that have to be met that are usually only doable for commercial nurseries.

Here is much more information than you probably wanted:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/...

Sometimes people will ask a nursery they know to help them export plant material.

Oh booyyyyy. My favourite kind of reading...

I was afraid there might be requirements that made it beyond the reach of mortals! ...I shall steel my resolve and plunge into this documentis inscrutibalis, in hopes of finding a way through the maze.

Thanks so much Hetty, you pointed me straight to the source.

@dellac, There may be some things, like seeds for instance, that are not subject to phytosanitary rules. Check with your government hort office, maybe?

You might want to just do some research (shopping) online on some commercial nursery sites that do export plants. Might be much more enjoyable than wading through the 'official' document. Use the "contact us" link to e-mail the nursery about the procedures and costs. I know one nursery locally here that exports all over the world. Not that they would have much that's suitable for your climate, though, unless you have a greenhouse. www.tropiflora.com

It might actually be less expensive in the long run to buy from commercial sellers who already have the means in place to export, rather than to try to trade plants with a private person who would have to jump through all the hoops for you. I do think that most national authorities ARE trying to prevent the spread of plant diseases and pests by preventing private exchange of plant materials.

I do know at least one person who has tried to bypass the system, got caught, and her plants languished in an inspector's office at the receiving end for weeks, until they were dead. She still had to pay fees and fines and take delivery of the package once it was "inspected".

Della, if you mean you want to have something sent from an individual in the U.S. to you, there are also Australian import regulations that would probably have to be coordinated with whomever is shipping to you.
http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecu...

Cross posted, Elaine.

I've sent quite a few packages of "plant material" and other things to Australia, no certificate was needed. However, the biggest stop along the way was Australia customs office. Certain seeds were accepted - for some reason - while others were not (corn comes to mind.) They also would not accept any milk products (I tried to send my friend some instant hot chocolate!) Heck, they also wouldn't accept instant grits, a corn product. Tsk tsk tsk, what a loss of good eats, eh?

Della, I think you have several options when you received items from out of the country, some just requiring a good cleaning of the item before you're allowed to accept it.

Good luck!
Shoe

I didn't notice when I replied that you are in Australia and I am well aware how strict the import regulations are there for plant material. Many Australian Plumeria collectors have all but given up trying to bring cuttings into the country and as a result they are growing most of their Plumeria from seed.

Hi Della,
Have you gotten your answer yet? If not, try contacting the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is an agency in the United States Department of Agriculture. APHIS issues phytosanitary certificates for this country, so you should be able to find your answers through them.

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

And the FAQs about APHIS's phytosanitary cert program are here:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/...

Good luck!

Thanks everyone.

Despite how hard it could be to go through the 'right' way, I don't plan to try and sneak anything through.

The idea of being extra careful with what reaches Australia is well-founded. We are free of alot of pests and diseases that plague horticulture elsewhere... but in practise the system is overly rigid in places and incredibly lax in others. It's an inefficient, inequitable, overly bureaucratic, often illogical and poorly implemented system. It's a roulette. Horseshoe, I bet you've been lucky with some things and your corngrits got the bullet!

As for finding straight answers in all the electronic paperwork!

That said, I'm becoming a veteran at getting Lilium seeds into Australia, and have also received daylily seeds with very few hiccups.... But my new quest is based on my Lilium breeding goals... there's genetics in North America I'm just really keen to get!

So, I have already asked of one commercial nursery and checked online with a couple others, and the picture is that no lily bulb suppliers will risk posting to Australia any longer. Even though it is possible in theory, with all the right paperwork on both ends, the switch of hemispheres, chemical treatment, snail-pace procedures, inept and ignorant staffing of quarantine stations here, all add up to failure. The chances of getting a healthy bulb that makes the transition are really low....

But! I have reason to believe that where a whole bulb is almost certainly doomed, scales may not be. I think their chances of making it through the process and producing bulblets for growing on are worth the expense. It is reason enough for me to try, if I can get the breeding material I'm after.

I still have to read up all the useful links. The response is wonderful, folk.

Be interested to hear of your progress.

Me too! Good luck and I applaud your decision not to try the 'sneaky' route.

Could you team up with the university in Tasmania? They have a botanical study program; maybe if you could get on as a volunteer you might receive plant material through them.

"but in practise the system is overly rigid in places and incredibly lax in others. It's an inefficient, inequitable, overly bureaucratic...."

Heheheh, it sounds like quite a bit of our government, and many others, Della.

Congrats on receiving daylily seeds. Maybe some scales will make it through to you also.

I hope to hear more on how things are going, both your breeding as well as importing. Sounds pretty interesting to me!

Best to you and yours,
Shoe

Wow Shoe, and everyone. Thanks for the response. It's been a long while. I'm in hiatus with the lily breeding, and haven't imported seeds for ages. But have lots of lovely seedlings that are going through their survival-of-the-fittest tribulations in a friend's garden. ie. They're safe but neglected until I can sort through the survivors for the next round of breeding!

Wow, a 5 year old thread!

Indeed. It's not Della's fault for replying to it; a new member responded to this thread with a different question, so I split the thread out. It's likely that Della got a notification about the reply, though, and didn't see the date on Shoe's response.

Ahhh, I've been splitting off quite a few lately myself.

Oops, sorry, you're right Joshua.

It's not really that hard, I operate illahe Rare Bulbs, www.illaherarebulbs.blogspot.com
a specialty flower bulb business and I get phyto's all the time to ship flower bulbs around the world. One of the things they changed post 9/11 was that you need to be vetted by a local agency. So you fill out the paperwork and then go down to the local office to verify that you are an actual person. The paper work is a bit tedious, especially if you are shipping lot's of different species and they do seem to raise the cost of it every year, but once the paperwork is all filled out, a local agent from the Department of Agriculture comes out and inspects the material and off it goes.