Ah, fruitlovers, good to hear from someone who is personally aware of the pain that is shipping plants internationally
Jason: Heh, it's not hard to bypass customs regulations or work through loopholes. Heck, here in Iceland all they ever seem to care about is alcohol, people bringing it in trying to avoid taxes. It almost made me mad, after all the pain and expense I went through to get my permits (including becoming certified as a grower under USDA supervision), that I showed up at the airport in Keflavík with my nice shiny certified forms from all respective parties, and all the guy was concerned about was whether I was bringing wine, and if so, how much. Didn't even ask to open my suitcases to make sure that the plants I was bringing were on the list. I could have had my bags packed with 100 different endangered species infested with every plant disease known to man being used as travel snacks for a swarm of Japanese beetles, and nobody would have known the difference. :Þ
behlgarden, Filipe: It can be done; I did it. The only plants I list were two fairly mundane ones (lemon verbena and stevia) and a plumeria cutting which I think was already a goner (the people I got it from didn't preserve it right and it had a rot spot on it already). And I brought them to Iceland, in February at that! But there's no question that it's really hard on the plants. I don't plan to do it again. Maybe planting an occasional leftover, mind you, but...
I've lost a lot more plants to plantsitters over the years than in transporting plants. This is one place where you outdoor growers are so lucky, that your watering requirements aren't so strict. I still miss my silver-hair tea, my pair of kiwifruits, etc... almost lost my jabo, too. It was within an inch of its life with only three tiny half-browned leaves as its only source of energy for something like a month before it managed to get enough energy together to start producing more. And it amazes me, no matter who I bring in to water (except my last plantsitter, who is awesome), the post-mortem conversation always goes like... "Wait, you really didn't notice anything was wrong? Really? You didn't notice that every plant in the room had drooping leaves, some turning brown, some falling off, some plants now bare? You REALLY didn't notice that?"