Re: Shipping between US and Canada

From: Hermine Stover <hermine at endangeredspecies.com> on 1997.02.13 at 15:06:51(350) At 09:13 PM 2/12/97 -0600, Diane Whitehead wrote: >Currently we are allowed to import "houseplants' from the US to Canada >without a phyto. I thought this would be great for when I travel in the >warm south. I planned to buy the sorts of plants that grow outside in >San Diego but must spend winters in a conservatory in Canada. I found >that was the wrong interpretation, unfortunately. What they mean by >houseplants are things that must be grown in greenhouses in their place >of origin. Maybe just tropicals, then. And maybe the new regulations >will just apply to places like Monrovia that ship semi-trailer loads of >plants to us. (an aside: when I travelled in the Carolinas last year, I >was shocked to see the familiar big M hangtags on most of the plants in >the garden centres - California has a big outreach) > >But, I will certainly check to see if this will also apply to garden >tourists who like to choose their own plants. Thanks, Carlo. > > >Last time I shipped to canada my ag inspector laughingly told me that canada lived in phytosanitary terror of brown snails which NEVER CROSS THE BORDER on their own! Mostly those rules were written about comanies like Monrovia who regularly source other nurseries with fleets of tucks, where physical checking of each plant is impossible. For folks like me, who even commerciall speaking, seldom ship more than a big big parcel, and physical checking is easy, the amount of poking and prodding at each end...statee inspection of the nursery several times a year, plus that plant-by-plant check at this end for the phyto...seems excessive. But I would never go round it because I have a feeling that way leads to disaster. hermine@endangeredspecies.com

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