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Seeds Intercepted by Homeland Security

Sm1nts2escape said:
No it didn't. It did have a bright orange sticker on it that says ID RECORDED in bold though lol.
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Yeah, mine had the same sticker.  So, they must randomly check then.
 
The details are insane. They need a minimum of 20% of seeds if its under 800 grams. They then say they need no more than 20000 seeds. I want 10 seeds! That doesn't give them much to test now does it. I can't afford to buy a kilo of seeds, holy shit one tree products about a kilo of fruit and maybe 1% of that total weight is seeds.
 
I can at least explain this a little better since I have had a certified nursery and have sold and imported all kinds of seeds for longer than 20 years. Formally speaking all seeds that come into the US have to come in with a phyto and the person getting the seeds needs to have a general import export license. I have to pay for mine, but a hobby person can get one for free, but you still have to have one. You give the shipper your number and they get the phyto and your good. Most people who just get in a few seeds don't bother with this but if they randomly want to check any package, they will burn your seeds. I don't think it has to do with pepper seeds, this was probably just a package that got checked. Any hobby person who brings in any kind of seeds is always taking a risk that someone will decide to open up your package. Even though this should be random, certain points of entry will have people who are more tough in this regard, ie, in Hawaii. I know the people in San Fran are known for being pretty tight also. NY has so much going through that they would miss more things than they catch. Sometimes the people will send the seeds to you anyway, but after they nuke the package with methyl bromide, which in many cases just kills your plant materials. Tom
 
I've been lucky enough to successfully ship some seeds to Aus. My package is extremely cheap (no bubble wrap, just some paper to make it looking a boring mail), i think it catches less attention if you're sending small quantities (yes.. Take in account some broken seeds). Also sending during heavy mail traffic period like xmas should boost your chance to make it through.

Cya

Datil
 
KiNGDeNNiZ said:
But as far as Cali I know we too have tough quarantine laws. Appreantly someone in Cali ordered pods from Judy and it was confiscated. My theory is. That person might of just wanted extra pods.
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I thought Judy wouldn't even try to ship pods to CA?  It's pretty clear that it would be forbidden by the state ag folks.  Same thing happens if you try to drive into the state with fresh produce in your car---it gets confiscated.  It's been that way as long as I can remember, certainly since the medfly scare in the 1970s.
 
Considering how dependent the state is on agriculture, and how bad the problems have been with introduced pests already, I kind of can't blame them for the regs even though it breaks my heart occasionally.  AFAIK seeds are no problem, though, just fresh produce and live plants.
 
My seeds from semillas.de came through just fine last week, for what it's worth.  I think someone, either DHS or the shipper, screwed up here.  But good luck getting an explanation for anything out of Homeland Security...
 
-NT
 
 
Not a political statement, just the truth:
 
This is what happens when the citizenry cedes their liberty to the bereaucracy, who are, of course, appointed by those on whom you wasted your vote...
 
 
 
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