Importing palm seed seed debacle in Australia

[happypalms]

When you import seeds to Australia you need the correct paperwork that is understandable but if the paperwork is not in the correct order you run into difficulties ie once you’re seeds arrive in the country you are requested by customs to ask for the seed inspection once they notify you then your seeds a inspected in a matter of hours to days to weeks even longer in some cases if your seeds meet the Australian bio security requirements then you get a invoice for a bill this is all good if you’re seeds did not meet bio security requirements due to a fungal problem which I respect our environment or due to incorrect paperwork they then bill you and if you requested that your seeds be treated which is possible they bill you then as well taking longer to release your seeds yes a living product dying the longer  they are not sown taking days or weeks again and if all fails in the and if they need further tests and they fail that inspection they ask for more exporters details once again taking longer more delays again then you have to sign in writing to the agriculture department or whoever is in charge of the debacle of importing seeds to request your seeds be disposed off great fun after many emails and months later iam sure the fun out of importing rare and exotic some seeds of palms that are exstinct in the wild then it gets personal in my beliefs for the future of endangered palms in the hands of governments who don’t care for our environment it’s not about the rules but the RULER plus iam still expecting a bill for the disposal of my seeds let’s see how good they are now!

[Harry’s Palms]

Wow , that’s frustrating. When we bring plants in from Hawaii we have to have a Nematode cert for entry and the nurseries that sell to the tourists have all this taken care of for you. This is how it was when I brought home plants . The seeds I brought home I just cleaned at our room and put them in our luggage . I’m not sure how plant material is handled from one country to another. I know Floribunda ships to the mainland , not sure of the cost , but there are concerns about the transmission of various ugly things that could be of detriment . My experience is that certain agencies can only make things more cumbersome than they need to be. I once bought a rare , vintage bicycle part from a country in Europe and it got stuck in customs . It took a month for it to leave once it was flagged. Other times parts just take a couple days. With living things like plants or seeds this can be a problem . Harry