"Ron" wrote in message
...

Does anyone know (stupid question) if you can send bulbs to America or
are
such imports forbidden?

I do not know about America in general but if one even buys only an apple
in
California, drives into Nevada then goes back into Cal.; they'll have your
guts for garters if the borders guards catch you at it!

Ron

Here are the things that need to be done on the US end:

1. Get an agricultural import permit.
2. Enter the US through an ag import area (like JFK, NOI, LAX).
3. Have NO soil on the roots
4. Import nothing that is on the CITES list on endangered species.

Here is an article and a contact number or address at the bottom. Let me
know if you would like me to contact them for you, I live in Maryland about
an hour away from Riverdale. Trai

How APHIS Facilitates Agricultural Imports

Plant Protection & Quarantine
Veterinary Services
April 1995



As the world moves closer to the 21st century, nations have modified their
ideas of protectionism and embraced such international trade agreements as
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Countries have opened their doors a little wider
to the prospects of new trade, particularly in the area of agriculture. With
this increased interest in agricultural trade comes a bigger, more visible
role for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS).

APHIS helps to facilitate agricultural trade for both importers and
exporters, and its Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) unit is central to
the successful flow of healthy commodities into and out of the United
States. PPQ is responsible for ensuring that healthy seeds, plants, bulbs,
timber, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and a multitude of other agricultural
commodities can be imported without risk to agriculture and natural
resources. APHIS' Veterinary Services (VS) unit ensures that animals and
animal products, such as semen and embryos, can be imported into this
country without threatening the health of U.S. animals.



APHIS' Role in Plant Importation

Over the years, Americans have come to count on a diverse array of
agricultural products for their dinner table. In order to fulfill the
ever-changing tastes of Americans, the United States imports commodities
from around the globe. Local grocery stores now carry everything from
Mexican artichokes to Italian zucchini. In 1994 alone, the United States
imported 24.4 billion dollars' worth of agricultural products.

Some foreign countries have agricultural pests and diseases that do not
exist in this country and could cause devastating damage were they to be
introduced here. Consequently, PPQ strives to ensure that these imported
products are pest and disease free. PPQ does this by regulating the
importation of agricultural products as well as helping to ensure that
inspections are performed for admissible products and treatments are
administered to infested products before they are released into trade
channels.

PPQ advises importers on phytosanitary restrictions and requirements and
provides importers with information (including regulations, policies, and
procedures) on agricultural commodities they wish to import into this
country. For instance, if an importer wants to bring in a shipment of cut
flowers from the Netherlands, PPQ officers provide the importer with U.S.
phytosanitary requirements in advance so the flowers can enter this country
expeditiously.

Importers must procure import permits for many, but not all, commodities
before the goods begin their trip to the United States. Importers must also
obtain phytosanitary certificates for certain commodities from the exporting
country. These certificates verify that the quarantine officials of the
exporting country have examined the commodities for pests and diseases prior
to the commodities' departure from the country, so pests like the Egyptian
cotton worm and diseases like chrysanthemum white rust are not introduced
into U.S. agriculture. For some commodities, there are no acceptable
quarantine treatments that have been proven to destroy pests and diseases of
concern; these commodities are not allowed to be imported. Importers may
obtain information or import permits by contacting

USDA-APHIS-PPQ
Permit Unit
4700 River Road, Unit 136
Riverdale, MD 20737-1236
Telephone (301) 734-8645
Telefax (301) 734-5786

PPQ officers also work in some foreign countries inspecting agricultural
commodities before shipment to the United States in order to facilitate the
products' movement to markets. One of the most successful of these
preclearance programs is in Holland, where PPQ officers have been inspecting
flower bulbs since 1951. In Chile, PPQ has been inspecting all fruits and
vegetables destined for U.S. consumers since 1983.

Here is the link for anyone with a few hours to spare, If you can make sense
of it you are doing well.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk