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Question regarding imported plants and CITES on ebay

Discussion in 'Orchid Vendor FYI' started by pcolman, Apr 9, 2019.

  1. Apr 9, 2019 #1
    pcolman

    pcolman Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    I'm looking at a Polish vendor on ebay with 100% positive feedback (and a lot of it). They ship to the US and have some Australian terrestrials (Diuris, Thelymitra) that are difficult to find outside of Australia (to say the least) and not cheap. These would be dormant tubers, grown in cultivation, not collected, and they "guarantee" that there will be no problems with customs. I asked them if this was legal to ship to the US, and they said yes. But my understanding is that without CITES paperwork, this would be illegal. Can anyone confirm this?
     
    ezluckyfreee likes this.
  2. Apr 9, 2019 #2
    ezluckyfreee

    ezluckyfreee Member

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    I know of some people here in Canada who have ordered from this person several times, and they say that it gets through about 75% of the time. This implies, to me, that yes it is illegal. Maybe the vendor has figured out a way to prevent customs from flagging their shipments.
     
  3. Apr 9, 2019 #3
    pcolman

    pcolman Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    Yep, sounds illegal to me, as I thought. Oh well.
     
  4. Apr 10, 2019 #4
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    Both parties have a role in such transactions.

    The buyer in the US must possess an import permit and send his/her labels to the seller.

    The seller must assemble and include all appropriate CITES and phytosanitary documents, prepare the plants for shipment, and include the buyer's label on the outside, with another inside the package, then ship. If the use Express Mail (EMS), it will be automatically directed to the APHIS inspection station upon arrival in the US, and if it passes, with be Express Mailed to the buyer at no additional charge.

    If no labels indicate it's plants, and it doesn't get randomly flagged for inspection, it'll get through anyway. Illegally.
     
  5. Apr 10, 2019 #5
    pcolman

    pcolman Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    Yeah, pretty much thought it would be like that. It's a shame there seems to be nearly no legit way to get some of those species.
     
  6. Apr 10, 2019 #6
    naoki

    naoki Well-Known Member

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    If you can get seeds (not tubers), it is easy to legally import it. All you need is free small-lot-of-seeds permit from APHIS. They do need to follow the instruction, and attach the printed label (and clearly labelled seed envelopes + list of seeds with the required info). Other than that, they don't have to do anything, no need for phyto and CITES (for CITES App. 2 species).

    Also, you can legally get some Australian and European terrestrials from
    www.myorchids.de
    You do need free import permit, but it is (relatively) easy to get the permit.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
  7. Apr 10, 2019 #7
    ezluckyfreee

    ezluckyfreee Member

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    Canadians and Americans don't need an import permit to buy flasks from each-other.
     
  8. Apr 10, 2019 #8
    pcolman

    pcolman Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    Thanks for the info. I knew about not needing CITES for seeds, but I have unfortunately I have no interest in growing anything from seed. As for getting an import permit, I doubt I'll ever do it. Too much hassle and I despise forms. I encounter enough of them at work and go to great lengths to avoid them as much as possible outside that. If I can't just go ahead and order what I want, I've already lost interest.
     
  9. Apr 11, 2019 #9
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    They do need a Phytosanitary Certificate either way. I'm not sure about an import permit bringing them in to the US.