Shifting gears a bit, I wanted to say that--as far as bureaucracy
goes--the importing and exporting controls established by CITES are
fairly easy to learn and understand. For example, a broad class of
orchid exports and imports are expressly prohibited. And for those that
are allowed, the paperwork required is straightforward. Finally, for
exceptional cases, there are application procedures for importing even
a prohibited item provided one has a suitable (e.g. academic,
scientific) purpose.

While the lay person might misunderstand or try to get around the
requirements due to lack of knowledge, resources, or planning, the
professional orchid vendor has no similar excuse. The CITES regs are
pretty basic compared, say, to the international trade of integrated
circuit design software that can be used to produce items listed on the
US munitions list. I spent 7 years in charge of import/export for just
such a company and I can tell you that CITES is at least simple to
follow.

Smuggling will always go on, but there is probably more money (meaning
total, not per plant) to be made via legitimate means. And the downside
of being prosecuted for smuggling is a very big risk for those that
would ignore CITES.

When I did import-export, I routinely took classes (not expensive)
given by the US Bureau of Export Administration and they made even
complex situations fairly easy to decode. Also, BXA reps were willing
to take your case free of charge, research it, and give you an answer
regarding how to import/export your particular item. They were really
helpful.

From the CITES research I've done, the working method seems to be a)
make sure your plants are from a nursery and not wild collected, b)
identify them properly via full name and with identifying photos to
speed then through, c) have your CITES paperwork correct and
accompanying the shipment, d) make sure they're bare root or otherwise
obviously without bugs so they aren't stopped and fumigated. That's not
as easy as shipping cookies to grandma, but in the world of
import-export it's not the worst.

-M