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illegal orchids or orchid smuggling.....
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 |
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