Gastil's description of acquiring import permits from the USDA is very helpful. However, I found that at one point fairly far along in the procedure, one of their pages froze my computer. I called their telephone help line and was told how to reconfigure my browser temporarily to alleviate this. Also, after going through the initial series of steps you can do online, you have to physically go to a USDA extension office near your home (fortunately there are plenty of them near mine) and identify the staff member who is authorized to verify your identity by looking at your photo ID, and then that person will input the verification into their system (which, the helpful local staff person told me, does not always work the way it should). Then you have to get back online with USDA to complete the process and order the stickers Gastil mentioned. In addition to getting a permit for the Small Lots of Seed Program (originally an initiative by Joyce Fingerut of NARGS, by the way), you may as well get a permit to import other plant materials at the same time, so that you can import bulbs. I did this recently and it was no more time-consuming and confusing than just getting the seed permit alone. The USDA has about twice as many layers of security as my online banking, which apparently was put in place because (a) many people try to hack all US government websites, (b) there is a high level of paranoia as a result, and (c) they did it because they could. Once you have sent your seed order with the requisite paperwork and address stickers, the seeds will be sent to the specified inspection office (some are more efficient than others; ours, Seattle, is pretty good), and some but not all packages will be opened for inspection. The delay can be as much as 5 weeks, and who knows what will happen if the "sequester" goes into effect and federal employees' work time is reduced. No doubt it is worth it to prevent the USA from being overrun by species tulips, as dangerous as kudzu. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA