Nothing illegal here mom..
Phytosanitary certificates are only required by the person shipping.
Allen Lowrie is a good guy, and does all orders by the book. relax..
Oh really? What book is that? The Book of Dirty Tricks? Certainly not the Code of Federal Regulations 7.351 - Importation of Plants and Plant Products by Mail. and CFR 7.319 - Foreign Quarantine Notices. As many vendors who do not supply Phytosanitary Certificates he tries to make an end run around the Import Quarantine laws by classifying the material as "hobby supplies". So by importing plant material in this manner you are not only in violation of the Plant Protection Quarantine regulations but also violating US Customs laws and regulations. For the record Plants are defined as plants, seeds, tubers, pollen, cuttings etc. Restricted articles are any Plants (as defined previously). Prohibited articles are plants such as classified as noxious weeds, CITES etc. that require special permits in order to import them. Lack of certificates and special permits usually ends up in the destruction of the material (see below).
It's all very well for foreign vendors to tell you it is perfectly legal to not have the proper paperwork or customs declarations. They are not the ones that will be fined or face prison sentences. And ignorance of the laws and regulations is no excuse.
Get real people, several members of Terraforums are current or former employees of the US Postal Services, USDA and the Department of Homeland Security. Discussing, naming and recommending vendors who do not provide the proper paperwork and follow the regulations of the USDA and DHS will ultimately not end well for Terraforums.
You do not need Phyto. certificate for hobby supplies.
May I hear from you soon.
Cheers Allen
7 CFR 351 Importation of Plants and Plant Products by Mail
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/7/351
§ 351.1
Joint treatment generally.
The entry into the United States of certain plants, plant products, and soil is prohibited or restricted through various orders, quarantines, and regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the authority of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701-777 2). To assist in enforcing the aforementioned orders, quarantines, and regulations, the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs of APHIS have made provisions with the U.S. Postal and Customs Services to ensure closer inspection of prohibited or restricted imported articles.
§ 351.3
Procedure on arrival.
All parcel post or other mail packages from foreign countries which, either from examination or external evidence, are found or are believed to contain plants or plant products, shall be dispatched for submission, or actually submitted, to the plant quarantine inspector at the most accessible location listed in § 351.2. The inspector shall pass upon the contents under the Plant Quarantine Act and Federal Plant Pest Act and with the cooperation of the customs and postal officers either
(a) Release the package from further plant quarantine examination and endorse his decision thereon; or
(b) Divert it to the Plant Quarantine Station at Washington, DC, Brownsville, Tex., Hoboken, N.J., Honolulu, Hawaii, Jamaica, L.I., N.Y., Laredo, Tex., Miami, Fla., New Orleans, La., San Francisco, Calif., San Juan, P.R., San Pedro, Calif., or Seattle, Wash., for whatever disposition is deemed warranted. If so diverted, the plant quarantine inspector shall attach to the package the yellow and green special mailing tag addressed to the proper quarantine station. A package so diverted shall be accompanied by customs card Form 3511 and transmitted to the appropriate Customs office for referral to the Plant Quarantine Station. Envelopes containing customs card Form 3511 addressed to the collector of customs, New York, N.Y., shall contain a notation that the material is to be referred to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs, Hoboken, N.J.
§ 351.5
Return or destruction.
Where the plant quarantine inspector requires the entire shipment to be returned to the country of origin as a prohibited importation (in which event he shall endorse his action thereon) and delivers the shipment to the collector of customs, the collector shall in turn deliver it to the postmaster for dispatch to the country of origin. If, upon examination, the plant material is deemed dangerous to plant life, the collector of customs shall permit the plant quarantine inspector to destroy immediately both the container and its contents. In either case the plant quarantine inspector shall notify the addressee of the action taken and the reason therefor. If the objectionable plant material forms only a portion of the contents of the mail package and in the judgment of the inspector the package can safely be delivered to the addressee, after removing and destroying the objectionable material, such procedure is authorized. In the latter case the inspector shall place in the package a memorandum (Form AQI-387) informing the addressee of the action taken by the inspector and describing the matter which has been seized and destroyed and the reasons therefor.
7 CFR 319.37-4
Inspection, treatment, and phytosanitary certificates of inspection.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/7/319.37-4
§ 319.37-4
Inspection, treatment, and phytosanitary certificates of inspection.
(a) Phytosanitary certificates of inspection. Any restricted article offered for importation into the United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate of inspection. The phytosanitary certificate must identify the genus of the article it accompanies. When the regulations in this subpart place restrictions on individual species or cultivars within a genus, the phytosanitary certificate must also identify the species or cultivar of the article it accompanies. Otherwise, identification of the species is strongly preferred, but not required. Intergeneric and interspecific hybrids must be designated by placing the multiplication sign “x” between the names of the parent taxa. If the hybrid is named, the multiplication sign may instead be placed before the name of an intergeneric hybrid or before the epithet in the name of an interspecific hybrid. Phytosanitary certificates are not required for the following restricted articles:
(1) Greenhouse-grown plants from Canada imported in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section. These plants must be accompanied by a certificate of inspection in the form of a label in accordance with paragraph (c)(1)(iv) of this section attached to each carton of the articles and to an airway bill, bill of lading, or delivery ticket accompanying the articles.
(2) Small lots of seed imported in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section.
(3) Seeds from Canada imported in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section. Each carton of seed must be labeled as required by paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section. Each shipment of seed must be accompanied by the documents in paragraphs (e)(2)(iii)(A) and (e)(2)(iii)(B) of this section, as necessary.
(4) Bulbs from the Netherlands accompanied by a special certificate that lists a serial number, the scientific name of the bulb, the country of its origin, and a date on which the special certificate expires. The serial number must refer to a phytosanitary certificate issued, held, and retrievable upon request by the national plant protection organization of the Netherlands. The expiration date must be 6 weeks after the issuance of the phytosanitary certificate held by the national plant protection organization of the Netherlands. Shipments of bulbs from the Netherlands accompanied by this certificate may be imported into the United States without preclearance by APHIS.
(b) Inspection and treatment. Any restricted article may be sampled and inspected by an inspector at the port of first arrival and/or under preclearance inspection arrangements in the country in which the article was grown, and must undergo any treatment contained in part 305 of this chapter that is ordered by the inspector. Any restricted article found upon inspection to contain or be contaminated with plant pests, that cannot be eliminated by treatment, shall be denied entry at the first United States port of arrival.