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  Shipping plants into Arizona UPDATE
From: "Tropicals" Tropicals at SolutionsAnalysis.net> on 2005.02.15 at 23:33:51(12693)
Our ‘respected’ head of the Florida Department
of Agriculture just phoned to make a verbal retraction/amendment from a written
document. We feel this warrants notification and retraction to aroid-l members
for a part of our earlier shipping statements.

Be it known that the State of Arizona requires the phyto-sanitary
certificate to accompany ALL interstate and international shipments coming
in. Now you should understand why we were so elated with the previous
announcement; believing this had been waived. We remain very pleased for
CA residents, not with the Arizona
regulation. I’m sure the AZ members already know this, it is
intended for the rest of us.

Suffice it to say in our words, all AZ residents receiving
plant or plant parts shipments could rent a PO Box in an adjoining state for
less than the mandatory $50 phyto-sanitary certificate to accompany each
shipment arriving from another state .

Christian and Bill

AlterNative Solutions

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From: Ken Mosher ken at spatulacity.com> on 2005.02.16 at 03:49:29(12697)
I guess my only question is, "Does AZ intercept U.S. Post Office mail and
inspect the packages? I do believe that would be a federal crime and land
someone in prison."

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From: "Leo A. Martin" leo1010 at attglobal.net> on 2005.02.16 at 03:50:43(12698)
I contacted my state representative about this a few years back, asking
why we had this new requirement. He got back to me. The citrus industry
managed to get a law passed to this effect.

The Arizona citrus industry is afraid of the citrus canker bacterium
which has impacted Florida's industry, so a special phytosanitary
certificate for all shipments into Arizona is required. At one time
citrus was a huge money-maker in Arizona. There is still lots of farming
but not nearly as much as before.

The mail isn't actually opened and searched, so far as I can tell. But
ethical businesses typically try to obey the laws of the states to which
they ship.

It typically costs me around $50 additional for the special phyto to
have something shipped into Arizona. Sorry, out of state nurseries, but
it just doesn't make financial sense anymore.

For those of you not in the know -- citrus canker is a bacterial disease
whose spores spread readily via wind, shoes, equipment... very readily.
It doesn't much harm the health of the trees, and doesn't even affect
production much, but the fruit after being attacked doesn't look
perfect. Therefore it is considered unmarketable.

Several years back southern Florida municipalities embarked on
search-and-destroy missions to eliminate all citrus trees from all
non-commercial private property (for example, homeowners' back yards),
on the theory that this would minimize the spread of spores to
uninfected commercial groves. Speaking as a biologist, and knowing that
sometimes wind blows in Florida, especially in late summer, this seems a
completely silly idea to me, but I freely admit I haven't studied the
biology of the bug.

Government enforcement agents entered private property without
permission, without warrants, and without compensation, to destroy
homeowner's healthy citrus trees, sometimes assaulting and battering
citizens who didn't know what was going on. I guess you in Florida have
quite the agriculture lobby.

Arizona ignores the threat of the Thai cycad scale; mass importing of
Cycas revoluta from Florida continues. Even large local nurseries who
understand the threat continue to import C. revoluta from Florida. Their
attitude seems to be, "It'll get here sooner or later, so we might as
well make money while we can."

Leo

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From: hermine hermine at endangeredspecies.com> on 2005.02.16 at 07:21:43(12700)
At 07:49 PM 2/15/05, Ken Mosher wrote:

I guess my only question is, "Does AZ intercept U.S. Post Office mail and
inspect the packages? I do believe that would be a federal crime and land
someone in prison."

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From: Chipboy5399 at cs.com on 2005.02.17 at 11:52:36(12707)
One of my packages going overseas just in an unmarked box was intercepted at customs adn I only got a post cadd informing me it was destroyed adn that it is bla bla bla about exporting plants.

hermine wrote:

>At 07:49 PM 2/15/05, Ken Mosher wrote:

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From: "Bamboo Chik" bamboochik at earthlink.net> on 2005.02.17 at 12:21:15(12708)
I have not had plants intercepted in AZ but I have in CA. If you have your
nurseries name on it, you can bet they will intercept it. I no longer will
ship to CA....b.f.n..deb/AL

> [Original Message]

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From: hermine hermine at endangeredspecies.com> on 2005.02.17 at 19:10:52(12713)
At 04:21 AM 2/17/05, Bamboo Chik wrote:

I have not had plants intercepted in AZ but I have in CA. If you have your
nurseries name on it, you can bet they will intercept it. I no longer will
ship to CA....b.f.n..deb/AL

If you are a licensed and inspected nursery, you have ready access to the
right paperwork. I would cry large slow tears down my cheeks if nobody was
gonna ship to me in California!

Legal like I mean. since i have a nursery, i stand to lose at least a great
deal were i do ODD ILLEGAL things.

hermine

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