Any suggestions for APHIS inspection stations?

[Rtreid]

I am getting fed up with the San Diego APHIS inspection station for my seed imports.  Every once and a while they give me a break, but the usual situation is that  seed shipments arrive at the inspection station where they sit around for two to three months.  When they finally get around to inspecting them they are either germinated or moldy, where in either case they destroy the seeds and then send me a nice stack of letters informing me of that fact.  The last straw was recently when I received a call from an inspector who complained to me that the shipper did not put a forwarding label in the box with the seeds, and that they need to do this. When I asked if he was able to label the box for me, the response was there there was nothing to forward as all the seeds had germinated and there were no phytosanitary certificates included with the shipment.  He was just calling me so that it did not happen next time!

My question to the group is does anyone know of an APHIS station that processes seeds in a timely manner so that my imports can actually get to me rather than sit, germinating, in some government inspector's office?

I am not complaining about the program or the inspectors, many I have spoken with even agree that calling seeds that germinate in transit "plants" is ridiculous, but they have rules they are told to follow. I am just looking for an office that is not as busy and/or understaffed as the San Diego branch.

Thanks,
Richard

[Daintree]

Wow, that is slow!  All my seeds come in through Seattle, and I would say the average turn-around time is a few days. 

I even had some seeds come in mis-labeled, and the gal called us and we helped her get the names sorted out so she could send the seeds on.  We wrote her boss a nice letter about her.

As far as germination, because I buy a lot of recalcitrant seeds, half of them germinate en route, and I have never had any thrown away.  The only ones that got incinerated had bugs that had chewed their way out of the seeds during transit.  Yikes!

Of course, once I say that, and everyone switches to Seattle, things may pile up...

By the way, did anybody see the latest APHIS newsletter, where the USDA is training its dogs to detect citrus canker and citrus greening in the field?  Pretty cool!

Carolyn

[fruitlovers]

2-3 months? That is ridiculous! Usual processing time is more like 2-3 days. Almost any inspection station is going to do better than San Diego. Just avoid other California stations, as they're all pretty bad.
Used to be that sprouted seeds were ok without a phyto. They changed that, but i'm not sure why, and it really makes it difficult with recalcitrant seeds that sprout very fast. Some inspection station used to overlook that rule, but almost all have become stricter with time, and almost all enforce it now.

[tanfenton]

I've been waiting for Luc's Garcinia seeds for better than two months, so I feel your pain! I chose the Miami station thinking that my presence in Miami would help expedite matters, but this seems far from the case! Potentially losing the cost of this quantity of seeds is a tough pill to swallow, especially considering the fact that sent without the proper channels they could have been here a month ago!

Nathaniel

[wonderfruit]

I did two times luc Garcinia to Miami. No problem

[Frog Valley Farm]

🗯

[BajaJohn]

I got this from the USDA/APHIS website

USDA-APHIS-PPQ has 16 plant inspection stations in the U.S. located at or near major international airports and seaports. One station is the National Plant Germplasm Inspection Station (NPGIS) located in Beltsville, Maryland. The NPGIS is uniquely designed for the inspection of small amounts of plant germplasm imported or exported for plant breeding and research purposes.

They may only deal with prohibited/restricted plants with a CIS 588 permit but it may be worth talking to them. (301) 313-9327.

[cos]

yea Frog Valley Farm you can never tell what one of us may be hiding inside one dem seeds!!

[luc]

I've been waiting for Luc's Garcinia seeds for better than two months, so I feel your pain! I chose the Miami station thinking that my presence in Miami would help expedite matters, but this seems far from the case! Potentially losing the cost of this quantity of seeds is a tough pill to swallow, especially considering the fact that sent without the proper channels they could have been here a month ago!

Nathaniel

16/05/2017   17:55:00   UNITED STATES   En zona de intercambio int. en el país destino, previo Aduana .

Nathaniel , no idea what happened there....see above ... they entered the US on 16/5/17

Luc

[tanfenton]

Thanks for the information, Luc! It's definitely not on you! FedEx just lost a package from ARS to me two weeks ago, and I'm only about seven miles from Chapman Field!! It has been one of those kind of years. 

Nathaniel

[Frog Valley Farm]

🗯