Importing seeds from the EU to the UK

[el48tel]

Yes they have to ensure that they have funds to pay themselves even if they are unsure about the purpose.

[AndrewB]

I used to order seed from Europe quite a lot, and spoke to DEFRA / APHA when brexit occurred and subsequently.

As far as I am aware the rules are clear, although somewhat lengthy:

A phyto must be obtained for all cacti seed imports regardless of order size, and the relevant authorities (DEFRA or APHA - I cant recall which) must be notified in advance.

Cacti seeds that require CITES certs (for both export and import, i.e., 2 certs) include all Turbinicarpus, all Ariocarpus and even an Echinocereus (lindsayii v. ferreirianus I think?) - the full list is available on line.


CITES is aimed at protecting wild species and phytosanitary certs are aimed at protecting our native plants ... there are sellers who will supply the phyto paper work including Mesa, Uhligs, Kohres and Kakteen-Haage. I have not found anyone who supplies CITES certs.

I would not use any supplier who does not supply the correct paper work, although I did get bit once by a supplier who said he would and then didnt.

[Tony R]

A phyto must be obtained for all cacti seed imports regardless of order size, and the relevant authorities (DEFRA or APHA - I cant recall which) must be notified in advance.

Hello Andrew,
Please let us know where that requirement appears online in the 'rules'.
Thank you,

[MatDz]

A phyto must be obtained for all cacti seed imports regardless of order size, and the relevant authorities (DEFRA or APHA - I cant recall which) must be notified in advance.

Hello Andrew,
Please let us know where that requirement appears online in the 'rules'.
Thank you,

Indeed, this stands in contrary to everything that can be deduced* based on the available resources.

*It's more of a wild guess really than following any logical deductions, but hey!

[SimonT]

I think the stricter rules come from
https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/ ... -and-cacti
read along with https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php to define the plants with #4 annotation.

Andrew has some CITES I seeds in his orders?

I still think these pages are written in a very confusing way- surely it is possible to be completely explicit about these rules?

[MatDz]

I think the stricter rules come from
https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/ ... -and-cacti
read along with https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php to define the plants with #4 annotation.

Andrew has some CITES I seeds in his orders?

I still think these pages are written in a very confusing way- surely it is possible to be completely explicit about these rules?

The first link states that:

Annotation #4 (to be read with the above listings for orchids and cacti):
#4 Designates all parts and derivatives [of these species as under CITES controls], except:

(a) seeds (including seedpods of Orchidaceae), spores and pollen (including pollinia). The exemption does not apply to seeds from Cactaceae spp. exported from Mexico, and to seeds from Beccariophoenix madagascariensis and Dypsis decaryi exported from Madagascar;

[SimonT]

Although it is quite possible to see where the ambiguities come from in the online documentation, unfortunately only the proper authorities can actually
provide guidance as to how the regulations should actually be interpreted. Only they know what is supposed to happen!

[edds]

I think you missed an important word out of your statement...

Only they should know what is supposed to happen.

I don't think they have a clue for private buyers.

[SimonT]

I was just reading this recent CITES-related publication https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ... 14030?af=R
in which the BCSS was involved. Shame the authors did not cover more about the pure bureaucratic aspects of this issue!

[BarbusBarbus]

Many thanks for all your helpful replies, indeed it seems as I expected...no-one actually is sure of the rules!

From my personal perspective I find the rules very unclear - I cannot find clear documentation to state either,
1) Seeds can be imported from the EU without documentation.
2) Only a PC is needed, but not prior notification.
3) PC and prior notification is required.

The documentation laid out by the 'authorities' is in my view confused and explicitly contradictory between different organisations. I fully agree with the previous poster who suggested that contacting the relevant authorities would be the obvious next step, but having done this their response solely redirected me to the online guidance that I had pointed out to them was unclear in the first place...the only reason I got in contact with them. Sigh.

The issue appears (to me anyway) to be a very simple one for the authorities to provide guidance for - what steps does someone need to take to safely import (non-restricted) seed to the UK from the EU. I have no issues at all with the extra legwork needed/cost involved in getting paperwork/providing notification, I just don't want to lose the money/seed solely as its unclear what steps are needed!

I do however like the suggestion of ordering in smaller batches, I think this may be the way to go - perhaps a trial with a test batch that have a PC but no notification and then base my next steps on whether this batch successfully arrives! (fingers crossed!)

Thanks again,
A