Experience importing orchids into US?

[OrchidThief79]

I live in the US, and I am considering placing an order for a few plants with a reputable nursery in Europe. I want to be sure that I am fully compliant with the laws.This is for my personal collection and not for any commercial purpose. My understanding is that I need three things 1) a federal import permit, which I have 2) a phytosanitary certificate, which the nursery will provide and 3) CITES documentation.

The only part that worries me is the CITES stuff. Even though I'm only buying mericloned hybrids, I think CITES still applies. The nursery said their phyto. cert. states that they are compliant with CITES.

If anyone has experience with this, I'd appreciate your input. I'd rather not spend the money if customs is going to throw the package in the trash.

[camille1585]

Philip (King of orchid growing) has first hand experience with this, he did a group order for some people from an Australian grower. So he may be able to tell you more about the process.

Which EU nursery are you dealing with?

[ronaldhanko]

I've imported plants from the UK - they were seedlings in flasks but Cites, if I am not mistaken, applies to all orchids, and the nursery, if I am not mistaken, should supply the necessary documentation.

There are some things I would suggest:

1) make sure you have the green and yellow import stickers from the USDA inspection station to which your plants will be going - you have to supply them to the exporter and the USDA does not always send them to you with your import permit. You can scan them and send them to the exporter, but the package needs to have the sticker that directs it to an inspection station near you (mine have the address of the Seattle station).

2) unless you are close to the USDA inspection station where your plants are coming in make sure the plants are addressed to you, not the station. The USDA will then send them on. The exporter addressed one of my shipments to the station and I had to make a five hour round trip to Seattle to pick up the plants.

3) establish some kind of relationship with the people at the USDA station where your plants will be coming, i.e., let them know beforehand that you are importing plants, what you are importing (ask them the kind of questions you've asked here) and when approximately the plants are arriving. The people in Seattle are much more helpful now that they know me.

4) make sure your import permit is clear on what you are wanting to import (orchid hybrids or Phalaenopsis hybrids) because anything not covered by the permit is in danger of being confiscated. I made the mistake of having mine list only in vitro Dendrobium species and they are pretty picky about anything else).

[OrchidThief79]

Thanks for the info, ronald. It does seem like an awfully complicated procedure. I skimmed the CITES regulations, and I believe sealed flasks are exempt from CITES, though you still have to abide by the USDA rules.

[ronaldhanko]

It wasn't as big a deal as it seemed before. If you have the permit and the labels, the shipper should take care of the rest. The only thing youhave to do is fork over and with shipping and document fees that can be a bit pricey.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you're purchasing flasks in-vitro, you'll have to arrange with your supplier for a phytosanitary certificate.

If you're purchasing a plant out of flask, you'll have to arrange with your supplier for a phytosanitary certificate and for a CITES certificate.

To clarify, the suppliers are the ones who will be applying for these certifications for you. You are not the one who applies for them.

Even though you arrange for these papers, most of the times you are the one who will be paying for them.

Different suppliers will cut you different deals and may offer to not charge you for certain certification fees, (not always), so you must keep a good relationship with them.

Different countries charge different amounts for these papers.

The CITES and/or phyto goes with the package, either inside or outside the package. It's your choice, it doesn't really matter whether the papers are inside or outside the package.

If you haven't got one already, you'll need an import permit from the USDA. If this is not for resale, the permit is free. The permit is called PPQ 587. If you intend them for future resale, the permit for distribution costs $70.

The USDA encourages people to use the website to fill out an application, but I find it much easier to find out where your nearest USDA office is, call them, request a copy of the application be sent to you via email, and fax a copy of the completed form to them. It's not as messy as it is online.

Other than that, everything Ron said is correct, except for one thing...

My local USDA office did not nitpick about what species I could import, so as long as the criteria met were that I mentioned all the plants I wanted to import on the first shipment and that they were going to be in-vitro and tubers/plants out of flask. That would practically cover everything under the sun as far as species orchids go.

But I'd imagine your only other issue would be to declare that you will be importing hybrids and/or species, as well.

[OrchidThief79]

Thanks for the info. I read somewhere that some countries who participate in CITES haven't really developed a system for issuing the documents, so the US may accept a phyto cert in lieu of an actual CITES document. The nursery I want to buy from is in Germany, and apparently Germany is one of those countries. At this point I'm considering abandoning the idea since the cost of shipping and the certificates is close to $100.

[lambelkip]

you'll also need an import permit from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Hawaii has strict controls for plant imports, even from other states.

[camille1585]

What plants were you looking for? If you drop the idea of ordering, maybe there are people that can help you locate them state-side.