International Seed Shipping/Phytosanitary Certificates

General Discussions
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I would like to have more reference information on applying for permits to send seeds internationally.

From my research, I know that there are differences from one country to another. Not all combinations of shipping origin and destination would be easy, or possible. But I believe there are situations when it would be possible to conduct the necessary paperwork to move seeds legally across borders.

I think the best approach will be to plan to actually ship seeds between two locations so that we can follow the process through each step. I thought I was going to have an opportunity to apply for permission to send seeds from the United States to South Korea this Spring, but it seems like my partner in South Korea will not be available.

If anyone else here is interested in pursuing an exchange, especially from or two the United States, I’m interested in working together.

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Las week was researching some of the paperwork for that kind of procedures for importing to Spain / Europe and for the Phytosanitary passport.

Depends a lot for the quantity of imported seeds. I read it takes up to 4 months for the paperwork, and import/custom taxes have to be paid.

There are also a lot of exempt clauses, and there are species that do not require it.

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@markwkidd

Here is a list of plagues and diseases to look for on plants when working with the europe phytosanitary passport.

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I’m working on obtaining a permit for us as an organization to import small amounts of seed, hopefully we will be able to legally accept seed from all over next fall.

As far as exporting to other countries, as Mark says, it all depends on the country and it’s pretty complex. I decided not to focus my energy on that for now, but would love to support anyone else who would like to do so. Facilitating a program like we have in the US for the EU is also interesting, but requires a dedicated volunteer in the EU. If anyone is interested in doing that, please reach out to me.

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I started looking at phytosanitary and permit requirements for export from Australia, and it seemed way too daunting so I put it aside.