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Post by rowan on Jan 2, 2016 19:23:50 GMT -5
I just went into the Australian quarantine website - I use this site a lot to see what can be imported. Well... obviously someone thought that it was too efficient and easy to use. They have now changed it to such a jumbled and terriblel site that now no-one will bother and will just import stuff because the site is too difficult to navigate. Why can't government websites be user friendly, you would think they would be able to afford to pay people who know what they are doing. I am shaking my head.
My rant over.
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Post by castanea on Jan 2, 2016 20:54:56 GMT -5
Sounds a lot like the US government websites which are not only frequently incoherent, but also contain unmentioned exceptions, exclusions and conditions in other sections that are nor even indexed or cross referenced.
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Post by diane on Jan 2, 2016 23:22:17 GMT -5
A few years ago someone devised a fancy key for what seeds one can import into Canada. Now, we are allowed to import seeds of almost every flower and every vegetable. Shrub and tree seeds require a phyto, but that was never a big deal.
We had an iris convention and someone from the U.S. brought native iris seeds to donate to delegates. They were seized at the border, so I went there to sort things out, since I knew they are allowed. The well-meaning customs official had carefully used this new key and ended up at a description of "seed" potatoes (ie, small tubers), though the word "potato" was not written, so an inexperienced person would not have realized what was being described. The instructions were to seize and destroy them. This weird result happened because near the beginning of the key was a question asking if the plant in question had a rhizome, which some irises do, and it was downhill from there. I got the seeds released, though I needed the intervention of an agricultural inspector.
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Post by templeton on Jan 3, 2016 0:27:11 GMT -5
I agree, rowan. In india recently, trying to figure out if I could import whole spices - pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, etc. The site didn't contain info on many items, and having had cloves and nutmeg seized before, didn't bother with them. Thankfully the customs - or should I say schutzstaffel sorry, BorderForce systems were in such disarray, even after declaring that we had encountered farm animals and were carrying plant matter that should be looked at, and telling the officer, we were waved through. If you have your head around what used to be allowed, and keep an eye on any changes through their recent announcements page, you might be able to make informed guesses.  Note: this is a parody pic, not real. this is real deal  . |
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Post by steev on Jan 3, 2016 19:22:10 GMT -5
Schutzstaffel? So harsh! One wonders whether these guardians of agricultural public welfare are like the personnel of many police departments in Cali, if not the USA, in general, in that they prefer to recruit the less-than-top-intelligence cohort because they can be depended on to "go by the book", rather than using their brains.
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Post by billw on Jan 3, 2016 20:35:03 GMT -5
It seems like something has changed with shipping into Australia in the past few months. Typically, I have listed the contents on the customs form and packages have sailed right through. Of the last four, three have been sitting in "customs clearance" for more than a month and a fourth was returned with a big red "rejected" stamp even though it only contained seeds that have been accepted many times before.
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Post by steev on Jan 3, 2016 21:46:13 GMT -5
In regulation of any sort, there appears to be a bias toward "dumb-ass" because it can be justified by "the rules", which are, of course, not always connected to reality or utility.
I will go further into unapproved territory, by pointing out that these agricultural regulations are primarily intended to protect the interests of corporate agribusiness; this has little or nothing to do with small farmers, nor has it much to do with consumers; it's about money. You ain't got it; nobody that has power gives a shit about you!
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Post by templeton on Jan 4, 2016 3:11:06 GMT -5
A bit harsh, yes, Steev. Bu this image manipulation just makes me feel sick. Black uniforms, faceless authority, the leashed dogs at the airport that are run past passengers, it just has a nasty whiff of swastikas about it.
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Post by templeton on Jan 4, 2016 3:13:45 GMT -5
It seems like something has changed with shipping into Australia in the past few months. Typically, I have listed the contents on the customs form and packages have sailed right through. Of the last four, three have been sitting in "customs clearance" for more than a month and a fourth was returned with a big red "rejected" stamp even though it only contained seeds that have been accepted many times before. Strange, Bill. Perhaps it will settle down in future. T |
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Post by MikeH on Jan 4, 2016 7:08:38 GMT -5
A few years ago someone devised a fancy key for what seeds one can import into Canada. Now, we are allowed to import seeds of almost every flower and every vegetable. Shrub and tree seeds require a phyto, but that was never a big deal. Unless this has just changed shrub and tree seeds do not need a phyto. The only seeds that are problematic are grains in amounts over 500 grams. If there's been a change, can you point me to the reference? I'd better know exactly what I can and can't do. We used to have a black list approach, ie, if it's not on the list it's OK. Sometime around 2011, we went to a white list, ie, if it's on the list, it's OK otherwise it's not. Navigating around the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/imports/airs/eng/1300127512994/1300127627409 is a treat and a half. Most times you end up with no. Too bad there wasn't a published white list somewhere but that would be too obvious a statement of what has happened.  |
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Post by steev on Jan 4, 2016 11:45:16 GMT -5
Classic switcheroo, that; anything not specifically permitted is prohibited. Feh.
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Post by diane on Jan 4, 2016 12:29:54 GMT -5
Unless this has just changed shrub and tree seeds do not need a phyto. The only seeds that are problematic are grains in amounts over 500 grams. If there's been a change, can you point me to the reference? No, I guess that changed with the introduction of the automated system. The need for a phyto when I was importing seeds from the rhododendron society was in effect for only a few years. I'm sure there are restrictions on importing fruit tree seeds. |
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Post by MikeH on Jan 4, 2016 13:01:45 GMT -5
Unless this has just changed shrub and tree seeds do not need a phyto. The only seeds that are problematic are grains in amounts over 500 grams. If there's been a change, can you point me to the reference? No, I guess that changed with the introduction of the automated system. The need for a phyto when I was importing seeds from the rhododendron society was in effect for only a few years. I'm sure there are restrictions on importing fruit tree seeds. Some, yes - stone fruits such as peaches. Others, no, eg, apple seeds. Some make no sense whatsoever - mulberry. Finding out, though, is a real pain. |
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