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USDA Permit Madness

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  • #21
The part I refer to has a section with Special Instructions to Inspectors. Under that is says 'This permit authorized small lots of eligible seeds to be imported without a phytosanitary certificate under the provision of...
That is the part you want to be sure to get right. As for getting your shipments forwarded, that is up to the individual inspection station from what I hear. The Hawthorne Station has moved to Torrance, and it is the only one that I know of that has an arrangement with the USPS to forward at no additional charge. I think that assumes that your package can be opened and resealed with little effort, and and is smallish. Anything big like a commercial order requires (from what I understand) an agent to be present to repack and so on. That should not be a problem with hobbyist shipments.
 
  • #22
I've never had an issue with forwarding yet, but I haven't done enough of it to say how it is supposed to work. Everything I get is basically a padded envelope so opening/resealing/remailing is quick and easy for all parties involved.

The best thing to do is to call the center you plan to send them through and ask them, all the centers seem to do there own thing. One thing you have to be careful about is that once the seller has your address and payment they don't always want to wait for the labels or actually use the labels. This enters the buyer into a "gray" area, and from my understanding so long as you did your part the most they would do is destroy the shipment although I feel that is unlikely.

Still very much a novice at this, and they have not exactly tried to make the process clear and easy.
 
  • #23
Thank you both for the advice.

Have you always sent the seller the actual labels, or have you sent a PDF? If the worst case scenario involves destroying the shipment, then maybe I'll just send the seller the scan as he requested and keep my fingers crossed.
 
  • #24
My understanding is the actual label, not a scan, has to be attached to the package. I have asked in a hypothetical sense, what if I order something from someone/somewhere where it is not possible or practical to get them the shipping labels...and had them mail the package directly to you at the IS. The answer was sort of "some tow the line, some want to cooperate with the spirit of the law as much as the letter." I agree with RSS, if you have some question, call and ask first. You can always call and let them know you are expecting something and they will keep an eye out. A scan is probably better than nothing, but I would check first. I had some things come in last summer, and one item out of six or seven was not labeled or mislabeled or something. They took that one out and sent on the others. They also included a somewhat ominous sounding letter. I called and they said no worries. Kind of a form letter letting you know what they did. The packages I have had brought in thru an IS have all arrived in good condition with two exceptions. One came in mashed and mangled, and another did not arrive at all. Both of those from AU. Don't know on which end it went south. One thing I would ask myself, is if the seller can't handle receiving a label, and putting that on a package, what are the odds the he/she will properly do the paperwork that must accompany it? If your seeds or plants are not properly labeled, that is considered a violation and they most likely will be destroyed.
 
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  • #25
The labels on the back clearly state:

"Do not duplicate this label. Only original labels will be accepted."
 
  • #26
I can in fact read (and in multiple languages. I'm a literature professor, after all) :p

I was simply surprised to have two different sellers tell me to email them scans when I inquired about sending the labels, leading me to wonder if this is common practice. I thought I'd ask TF members who have had experience buying seed from overseas to weigh in.
 
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