Hi Uli and all I too have been following this thread, and certainly greatly appreciate getting all the information put forth. There are couple of things I'd like to comment on briefly. I'm slowly working on the idea put forward earlier on the list, about having a website where the permits and conditions are translated into various other languages, in a printable form (pdf, most likely). My intension is to start with the Small Lots of Seed permit, as that seems to be of the most interest to members of this group. I've had people volunteer to do the translations for both French and Spanish. The more languages, the better. And no, the translated documents would not be a substitute for the actual permits; they would be sent, or linked to, only so there would be accurate, understandable information. The great, grand, pie-in-the-sky idea is to have translations of all countries regulations (pertaining to individuals or small businesses) translated into various languages. And of course posted in the original language as well. For instance, I know that sending seed to Australia and/or New Zealand is very strict, but I don't have a clue as to how to go about actually sending something. Along with the permits, regulations and so on, links to regulating agencies could be posted. Yes, this would be a lot of work! A responsible person in each country would help divide the work. Reading the postings, the mail is the way that most small lots of seed enter the country. When I order something, I'm visualizing it being sent from point A to me, directly. But the government says that it needs to be diverted to be inspected. Now this is great by me, as the inspectors have found and dealt with a couple of things in packages, that I really, really, really didn't want to have to deal with myself (let alone having the scourge named after me if it got loose!). And I don't really mind having to pay for postage to have the package returned into the postal system. But that is where the problem seems to be. In the old days, things could be delivered COD (collect on delivery), or if your carrier was nice (and most are), delivered with an envelope for you to return the additional postage due. I can't imagine any of us not paying for the postage, to get our precious packages as quickly as possible. But the system doesn't seem to be set up for this anymore. So, what do we do? Here are some ideas: 1) A special stamp, decal, label that the inspectors could put on a package, saying something like 'postage due on receipt'. The postal system would have to agree. 2) Having an additional field on the permit data base that contained an amount that the permit holder has deposited with APHIS, perhaps with a small fee for the service. The appropriate postage could be affixed to the package from this fund. Lots of extra work, but doable. 3) Sending a check with the order, made out to APHIS, for the cost of one of the flat fee boxes that the post office offers, into which the entire package could be placed. This eliminates the variable of postage cost, and the accounting inherent therein. 4) Your ideas?? I guess not so brief, Dave Brastow, Tumwater, Washington - Where I did NOT order the snow that arrived last night! P.S. I'm being hampered a bit by the fact that I must have left the second page of the three page permit in the copier. I don't think this has any personal permit information on it , just the first of the conditions (am I wrong), but I cannot find a source anywhere on the APHIS site, that has the actual conditions, or image of the permit. I talked to the people at the AHPIS booth at the Seattle Flower and Garden Show (Bill Aley , they said to say hello!), and they suggested that I try going through the e-permits system again. But as I didn't use it for a while, the access has expired, and I have to reestablish it. Sigh ...