Import permit for orchids from Thailand (shipping to USA)

[Chemtiger]

Yes, same thing, I’ve had everything make it (I think) too. See my above confession to breaking/bending? the law.

Also, I think it has to do with the number and type of plants in question and whether they have soil/other organic material in a pot which may hide possible seeds/spores from invasive species—which may be why my orchids are shipped to me bare-root in most situations, and if the seller is from a foreign country, their phytosanitary and CITES certificates ensure that they’re using accepted cultivation/culture practices within their nursery, and they’re not attempting to sell wild-collected plants, especially not scheduled CITES species. I’ve really read up on what is required for importing plants, such as having the different-colored labels to alert customs to the fact that I have a package in need of USDA inspection, and once they finish with their inspection, they can repackage the plants after they’re inspected, then repackage them and use the new color-coded label pre-made with my home address, to facilitate the shipment from the inspection’s port to my home. It’s all pretty confusing, I don’t know how I got through engineering school but struggle to figure out what is needed to legally import a few (okay, a few dozen, total) orchids.

All of this being said, I’m surprised that there’s no port with a USDA inspector in south Louisiana, since we’re such a large port area (New Orleans and Baton Rouge; the Mississippi River has huge container ships that I can see from my front porch if the river is especially high). I’d love to live near enough to Miami to be able to do what you did; I also would love to live near Miami because I have major “zone envy”! I lived in USDA zone 3 for the first 35 years of my life, now I’m in 9b and I want to be in 10! [end whining, sorry y’all!]