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what do you think about that ?

hi,

it's a long time I did'nt post on petfly.....sorry, terraforum.

I'm the builder of Carnibank, a seed exchange bank from France.
This bank is dedicated to CP seeds exchange.
rules are easy :
you send me your seeds + a SEASE, and I send you the seeds you want.
seeds must be of a same "value" , and that's it, in great lines.

I have users in every country (nearly ! ) , but not in the USA.....why that ? (ok, I have some very few)
because of many restrictions, papers to fill, documents & signatures to collect....

After some 5 years of heading Carnibank, I'm about to resign, to lead some other projects...for example, I intend to extand our seeds-for-free-for-newbies-to-CP's program that I run in the french speaking area ( luky people ! ) if I can source some seeds in good quantities and some other kind of things.....

ok, now to the thing I'm here for :
what about creating a Carnibank in the USA ?

dedicated to the US american area, to facilitate legal seeds exchanges between people, to have the opportunity to enter new species in US collections, and for so many more reasons too...

are you interrested in this idea ?

we need some webspace to build up the site, a person interrested in running the bank + the website (I have a easy-to-apply solution that requires NO programming knowledge etc.... ) , some dozens of different seeds species, and some papers....

we build the site, I send a seed collection to USA (samples of 90% of my programm, I guess, that makes something like 100/150 species at the start of the US exchange program) and of course, we fill the papers to legalize all the seed import.

to help us doing that, the US Government (the department of Agriculture) developped some new rules and built the "Small Lots of Seed" programm ; this programm allows any US resident to obtain easily an authorization to import "lots" of seeds, if these seeds are not weeds or things like that.....

I know there is some work, but it's possible.....

ok.....now it's your turn to talk
smilie4.gif
 
sounds cool...but...
we already have the ICPS seedbank.
why would we need another?

and trying to do something like this, internationally, would likely be a nightmare of paperwork, bureaucracy and regulations..not really worth the effort IMO when we already have the ICPS seedbank.
so..I guess im not seeing the need..sorry.

Scot
 
Well hello Patrice, long time no see! I hope all is well with you and your family?

Yes, restrictions upon restrictions here makes international exchange difficult.

I am sure Carnibank will feel the loss of its creator, but I wish you great success in your Newbie seed program. You and I both think alike in regards to that. You're my kind of guy! You have made some very big contributions to the world through Carnibank and especially in making rare seed availabe
le to "the little guy" and newbies.

It should be noted that the ICPS seedbank is not an exchange per se. If you donate rare seed you can get rare seed not appearing on their listing. Or, you can purchase a limited number of seed packs per annum. I think the ICPS is an excellent source, but it is not very much supported by it's membership as far as rare species seed is concerned. In other words, no one bothers to send seeds.

I am all for any organizations interested in free exchange of CP material, and would support any such undertaking. As far as I am concerned, the more the merrier! At one time we tried that here at TF but it never really got organized.

Please stop in from time to time Patrice. I was just wondering today how you are, and now I know! I will look forward to updates on your new work!
 
Something else to keep in mind with the ICPS is that you have to be a member to get the seeds. Not everyone is in a position where they can afford membership. Especially the under 17 crowd. Something like what Patrice suggests would level the field a bit and make seeds a little more available to them.
 
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