And then there are those instances like I just experienced where I went through the entire correct process to send some recalcitrant seeds to Australia since they severely increased the difficulty and requirements to do so, and it sailed right to the recipients home without ever being inspected. (It was kind of fun watching the progress using the customs form number on the USPS website.) I went to all the trouble of setting up an account with the USDA phytosanitary inspection service, loaded some money into that account, tracked down the closest inspection location (turned out to not be *that* far away from me), took my seeds there to be inspected, got the phyto, and then packaged them up and went to my local post office and guided the postal worker there on what to enter into her computer, and we both worked out how to fill out the forms. It was a learning experience. And unlike the Australia inspection service which charges by the quarter hour of time it takes to inspect, the USDA only charges a per-inspection fee, however long it takes (which in this case only took about 10 minutes including looking at the seeds under a microscope). For just a few seeds, it’s too expensive, about $46. And after all the anxiety by me and the recipient waiting to see how badly they would get hung up in Australian customs, only to see them fly right through without a single delay, and the recipient said the package was never even opened up. But it was a learning experience, and now I know how to do it fully legally and proper. [Personally I don’t see how all this new effort and procedure is helpful. It only seems to cause the practice of sharing seeds around the world to become non-existent. Pretty much no one sends seeds to Australia anymore, and they don’t ever expect to receive seeds from anywhere else ever again. As far as I can tell, in the case of some new highly desirable species, everyone has resorted to slipping a few into a card or letter in a regular first class envelope (which doesn’t work for recalcitrant seeds), since letters still don’t have to be inspected or have a permit or anything. Not what I think the authorities intended when they created all these new rules and regulations!] --Lee Poulsen San Gabriel Valley, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 340 ft/100 m > On Dec 10, 2025, at 22:43, Robert Parks via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > As someone who has done this, the information on shipping seeds is unclear > and contradictory on the official websites. What documentation is necessary > is also unclear. So, mailing stuff as a private citizen, if I chose one > part of the website, or an interpretation, it is probably not going to be a > big deal, but a significant number of official shipments could become > "interesting". And then, sending enormous recalcitrant seeds, if they > actually get chosen for inspection, is the inspector going to recognize and > allow them as seeds, or not? > I'll note that all the seeds and like seedsthe I've sent to Canada were > delivered with no drama. > > Robert > with a pile of Amorphophallus ongsakulii offsets that look a whole lot more > like seeds that Nerine/Brunsvigia/Amaryllis "seeds" > > On Wed, Dec 10, 2025 at 11:55 AM Laura Grant via pbs < > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > >> Diane is correct. You can ship seeds to Canada. >> Laura >> >> On Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:29 PM Beth Etscheid via pbs < >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: >> >>> Note that I can ship only to U.S. addresses. Please include your mailing >>> address along with your request. >>> Beth Etscheid >>> _______________________________________________ >>> pbs mailing list >>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >>> https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >>> Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >>> PBS Forum latest: >>> https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php/… >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >> PBS Forum latest: >> https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php/… >> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > PBS Forum https://… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…