Do not move plants between Canada and the US unless you understand all the regulations. If you wing it, your plants will be confiscated and probably be burned. You may be hit with a very large fine.
Almost every US city with an airport has an office of the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS). Give them a call and learn what is required. They are very happy to help people understand the regulations. You also have to comply with the CITES convention on protection of endangered species. The APHIS people do not administer the CITES regulations, but they can point you in the right direction to find out.
It is possible to hand-carry a limited number of plants into the US if they are not on a list of forbidden plants, most of which are noxious weeds. I can't recall the number of plants allowed, but it is around 10. You have to declare them to the USDA-APHIS inspectors on entry to the US. If you have a phytosanitary certificate from the country you just left (Canada), covering all the plants, they may not inspect them. Or they may. If you don't have a phyto they inspect the plants. If they can't do it where you enter, the plants are shipped at your expense to a USDA-APHIS inspection station. You have to have a shipping account pre-arranged. If any plants have pests they will be burned or fumigated if you pay for it. Then they are shipped to you at your expense. Again, contact APHIS to learn the current information.
It is possible to import more than this limited number of plants with a (free!) general import permit, or a small lots of seed permit for seeds only. You probably don't have enough time to get a permit before the show. The applications for the permits can be reached via the USDA-APHIS Web site.
The first sentence in this message is the most important.
Note to US orchid society program chairs: The USDA-APHIS is generally very happy to send a speaker to your meeting to give a presentation on importing regulations, and how to do it legally.
Last edited by estación seca; 02-10-2016 at 11:48 PM..
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