Quote:
Originally Posted by orchideric
Dear Bill,
Why do you blame CITES? Artificially propagated seedlings can be imported into the U.S. with proper permits.
Vietnamese species are more of a problem because the AOS has worked behind the scenes to block all importations of Vietnamese species. They claim to have a letter from the Vietnam Government that supports their position. Now there is a bunch of crap!
Of course P. helenae is another case where the wild populations were decimated for export and growers in the West gladly paid for the wild collected plants. Not a pleasant history.
CITES isn't to blame here. There isn't the commercial demand in the U.S. for this species to make it worth the hassle and additional expense.
Eric
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There appears to be a misunderstanding of the CITES interpretation by USFWS. According to CITES, flask seedlings are entirely legal as Eric indicates but U.S.Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) only recognizes hybrids or paph/phrag species with valid CITES documentation.
The AOS has NOTHING to do with U.S. interpretations. The problem is that Vietnam has not permitted legal exportation of these species with CITES I documentation. They were smuggled out illegally and technically they are all illegal. Taiwan and other countries sell flasks of these species that the U.S. does not recognize because the original country of origin did not produce sign their approval.
Other countries interprete this very differently, some let anything come in and others are more restrictive. The U.S. seems to be the most restrictive.
This also applies to other countries with slipper orchids, such as Phrag kovachii from Peru, and Paph gigantifolium from Malaysia which were exported without proper documentation.
Paph helenae, tranlienianum, hangianum and several others are in the same situation.
There certainly is demand for the legal importation of these species in the U.S. as many of them are very desireable and useful in hybridization.
I would say that the CITES I Phrag and Paph species listing was very poorly thought out, especially when they are compared to gorillas and whales who produce one at a time.
This comes down to the U.S. government and their interpretations.........
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