Is there a way? without spending 100's on a certificate, to import
single plants/items from USA?

DEFRA site not very helpful on this, though I emailed them and am
awaiting response.

Cheers
//
Jim

....I suppose, Jim, that Defra have to be sure that you are not importing bugs of mass destruction :-)

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:13:39 +0100, Jim W wrote:

Is there a way? without spending 100's on a certificate, to import
single plants/items from USA?

DEFRA site not very helpful on this, though I emailed them and am
awaiting response.

Some lawless and improperly socialized individuals have friends
abroad send them packages of "baby clothes, home knitting only,
no commercial value, gift" the contents of which, quite oddly and
unexpectedly, were improperly cleaned before packing and include
fragments of leaves, twigs, shoots, and roots. This is, of
course, a disgusting practice showing insufficient respect for
the bureaucratic mind, and no right-thinking individual would
ever dream of stooping so low.

"Souvenirs" is also a nice kind of item to receive, with the
added advantage of being a declaration so vague that no one can
claim that an untruth was uttered.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
change "invalid" to "net" to respond

As long as what you are wanting is not growing in soil, and you are sure
that there is no way that it could be carrying pests or diseases, and it is
of a reasonably small size and light weight.then it sounds the sort of gift
that could be sent Swift Air or US equivalent, but I could not possibly
advise you to send plants that way.
But please think of the risk of introducing some foreign pest or disease
into this country........zxadsff

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Rodger Whitlock wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:13:39 +0100, Jim W wrote:

Is there a way? without spending 100's on a certificate, to import
single plants/items from USA?

DEFRA site not very helpful on this, though I emailed them and am
awaiting response.

Some lawless and improperly socialized individuals have friends
abroad send them packages of "baby clothes, home knitting only,
no commercial value, gift" the contents of which, quite oddly and
unexpectedly, were improperly cleaned before packing and include
fragments of leaves, twigs, shoots, and roots. This is, of
course, a disgusting practice showing insufficient respect for
the bureaucratic mind, and no right-thinking individual would
ever dream of stooping so low.


Same bureaucratic jobs worths who try to prevent importation of meat
products by similar means no doubt?

pk

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:13:39 +0100, Jim W wrote:

Is there a way? without spending 100's on a certificate, to import
single plants/items from USA?

DEFRA site not very helpful on this, though I emailed them and am
awaiting response.

Some lawless and improperly socialized individuals have friends
abroad send them packages of "baby clothes, home knitting only,
no commercial value, gift" the contents of which, quite oddly and
unexpectedly, were improperly cleaned before packing and include
fragments of leaves, twigs, shoots, and roots. This is, of
course, a disgusting practice showing insufficient respect for
the bureaucratic mind, and no right-thinking individual would
ever dream of stooping so low.

"Souvenirs" is also a nice kind of item to receive, with the
added advantage of being a declaration so vague that no one can
claim that an untruth was uttered.


I heard of a notable person who, when travelling, had salad sandwiches
with some very unusual fillings.

Annabel

PK wrote:

Same bureaucratic jobs worths who try to prevent importation of meat
products by similar means no doubt?

....and tried unsuccessfully to keep Japanese knotweed out of the UK.
--
Nick Wagg

David Hill wrote:

As long as what you are wanting is not growing in soil, and you are sure
that there is no way that it could be carrying pests or diseases, and it is
of a reasonably small size and light weight.then it sounds the sort of gift
that could be sent Swift Air or US equivalent, but I could not possibly
advise you to send plants that way.
But please think of the risk of introducing some foreign pest or disease
into this country........zxadsff

I am.. THat's why I asked!!

/
J

The message
from Nick Wagg contains these words:

PK wrote:

Same bureaucratic jobs worths who try to prevent importation of meat
products by similar means no doubt?

...and tried unsuccessfully to keep Japanese knotweed out of the UK.

?? IIRC JK was a deliberate introduction, as a gardenworthy plant.

PK is correct, the illegal import of meat is a serious concern since
it may carry farm animal diseases. In other countries, restrictions on
the accidental or deliberate movement of animal or plant material which
can cause environmental damage or infect food production are very tight
and for good reason.

Given this country's experience of imported problems and their
devastating ecological and economic impact, we should take better care.

Janet.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 14:43:03 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Nick Wagg contains these words:

PK wrote:

Same bureaucratic jobs worths who try to prevent importation of meat
products by similar means no doubt?

...and tried unsuccessfully to keep Japanese knotweed out of the UK.

?? IIRC JK was a deliberate introduction, as a gardenworthy plant.

PK is correct, the illegal import of meat is a serious concern since
it may carry farm animal diseases. In other countries, restrictions on
the accidental or deliberate movement of animal or plant material which
can cause environmental damage or infect food production are very tight
and for good reason.

Except most borders of mainland Europe are open.

A long time ago, we had a 5lb pack of Dutch bacon confiscated by the
UK customs, not because there was a health issue, but because we
didn't have an import license. It was made very clear that an
individual applying for an import license wouldn't succeed.
The Dutch bacon was in a sealed pack and identical to those which one
of the big UK supermarkets imported at the time, we bought it from
their Dutch supplier.

Most uncooked food stuffs including butter and cheese are on the of
forbidden imports.


Given this country's experience of imported problems and their
devastating ecological and economic impact, we should take better care.

I don't think there was any actual proof that the F&M outbreak was
caused by imported food. Wasn't it just a theory?
--
Martin

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 10:33:13 +0100, Jim W wrote:

David Hill wrote:

As long as what you are wanting is not growing in soil, and you are sure
that there is no way that it could be carrying pests or diseases, and it is
of a reasonably small size and light weight.then it sounds the sort of gift
that could be sent Swift Air or US equivalent, but I could not possibly
advise you to send plants that way.
But please think of the risk of introducing some foreign pest or disease
into this country........zxadsff

I am.. THat's why I asked!!

I just found this:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/research/c_and_e_abroad.pdf

in which it states: "Travellers from all other NON-EU countries: ... If you
wish to bring back more than these amounts you will require a phytosanitary
(ie plant health) certificates issued by ... the exporting country".

So basically, anything more than a bouquet, and five retail packets of
seeds (not potatoes) and you're going to be unlucky.

--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn't.

Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Nick Wagg contains these words:

PK wrote:

Same bureaucratic jobs worths who try to prevent importation of meat
products by similar means no doubt?

...and tried unsuccessfully to keep Japanese knotweed out of the UK.

?? IIRC JK was a deliberate introduction, as a gardenworthy plant.

I stand (well sit, actually) corrected.

PK is correct, the illegal import of meat is a serious concern since
it may carry farm animal diseases. In other countries, restrictions on
the accidental or deliberate movement of animal or plant material which
can cause environmental damage or infect food production are very tight
and for good reason.

I agree. My point was that far from being the task of a jobsworth,
policing of imports to filter out nasties is a job worth doing.

Given this country's experience of imported problems and their
devastating ecological and economic impact, we should take better care.

Quite.

However, as some have already posted, I also agree that some people
will always abuse what little power they have.
--
Nick Wagg

Tim Challenger "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 10:33:13 +0100, Jim W wrote:

David Hill wrote:

As long as what you are wanting is not growing in soil, and you are sure
that there is no way that it could be carrying pests or diseases, and it is
of a reasonably small size and light weight.then it sounds the sort of gift
that could be sent Swift Air or US equivalent, but I could not possibly
advise you to send plants that way.
But please think of the risk of introducing some foreign pest or disease
into this country........zxadsff

I am.. THat's why I asked!!

I just found this:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/research/c_and_e_abroad.pdf

in which it states: "Travellers from all other NON-EU countries: ... If you
wish to bring back more than these amounts you will require a phytosanitary
(ie plant health) certificates issued by ... the exporting country".

So basically, anything more than a bouquet, and five retail packets of
seeds (not potatoes) and you're going to be unlucky.


Oh well.. I will wait for USDA guy to come back from vacation and then
see how much they want to burn for a Phyto cert.. I seem to remember it
was a fair bit.. Ouch!

If its too much I will just have to wait till someone else does it.
//
Jim

The message
from martin contains these words:

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 14:43:03 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

PK is correct, the illegal import of meat is a serious concern since
it may carry farm animal diseases. In other countries, restrictions on
/\/\

the accidental or deliberate movement of animal or plant material which
can cause environmental damage or infect food production are very tight
and for good reason.
Given this country's experience of imported problems and their
devastating ecological and economic impact, we should take better care.

I don't think there was any actual proof that the F&M outbreak was
caused by imported food. Wasn't it just a theory?

I haven't said otherwise; though afaik that possibility is one reason
why DEFRA is currently so concerned about the escalating quantity of
meat casually smuggled in by travellers, from countries where swine,
cattle and poultry diseases are endemic.

I had in mind the UK's experience of intractable imported problems such
as New Zealand flatworm, Japanese knotweed, rhododendron ponticum, and
(recently) oak phytophthera. There's another current example of a recent
exotic pond-plant escape into UK wetlands or waterways, but the name
eludes me.

Janet.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 16:52:30 +0100, Jim W wrote:

So basically, anything more than a bouquet, and five retail packets of
seeds (not potatoes) and you're going to be unlucky.


Oh well.. I will wait for USDA guy to come back from vacation and then
see how much they want to burn for a Phyto cert.. I seem to remember it
was a fair bit.. Ouch!

If its too much I will just have to wait till someone else does it.

Good luck, please let us know what they decide.
--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn't.