For several years PBS has purchased an institutional membership for $250 a year in Brazil Plants Club, a venture run by Mauro Peixoto in Brazil. Our membership entitled us to 24 seed packets three times per year. I have been ordering seed each time Mauro posted a new seed list and dividing the packet contents up for our seed exchange, a service that has been appreciated by our members. Unfortunately we now need to discontinue our membership in Brazil Plants. PBS is caught between US and Brazilian seed import and export rules. The US requires imported seed be sent with a Small Lots of Seed permit affixed to the package. The exporter is responsible for putting the sticker on the package. These stickers direct the seed to an agricultural inspection station where the seed is inspected and then forwarded on to the recipient. I have a Small Lots of Seed Permit which I have offered to Mauro to use. He has declined this offer. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization we must abide by the law. Unfortunately we now need to discontinue our membership in Brazil Plants. PBS is caught between US and Brazilian seed import and export rules. The US requires imported seed be sent with a Small Lots of Seed permit affixed to the package. The exporter is responsible for putting the sticker on the package. These stickers direct the seed to an agricultural inspection station where the seed is inspected and then forwarded on to the recipient. I have a Small Lots of Seed Permit which I have offered to Mauro to use. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization we must abide by the law and use this permit.. He has declined to use the Small Lots Permit because if he did he would run into other issues with the Brazilian authorities. As you can see we are caught been conflicting bureaucratic requirements. I will say that the free exchange of seed throughout the world has gotten much harder the last few years. Regulations are increasing worldwide and causing issues for many plant societies. Great Britain and the EU now require phytosanitary permits to import seed much to the chagrin of their plant loving citizens. Mauro does offer individual memberships. You can contact him at brazilplants@gmail.com <mailto:brazilplants@gmail.com> for more information. If you are interested in obtaining a Small Lots of Seed Permit I recommend you check out the North American Rock Garden Society website https://www.nargs.org/small-lots-seed/. NARGS walks you through the whole process. If you have any questions please email me at seedyjan1@gmail.com. Jan _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…