Phytosanitary Certificate in your country or state

[雪割草]

Hello

I am a newcomer to this forum.
I'm not good at English. I would like to make up for it by posting photos instead. I ’m a super beginner of this forum. Please don't go too hard on me.

I would like to ask about the Plant Protection System: Phytosanitary Certificate in your country or state.
I don't have any seeds or plants that can be exchanged right now. But if I could exchange something with friends on this forum in the future, I would like to know what to prepare in advance.

Q1:
Does your country require a phytosanitary certificate to be attached to seeds sent from Japan?

Q2:
Does your country require flasked plants (in-vitro plants, sterile plants) sent from Japan to have a phytosanitary certificate?

Q3-a:
Are you accustomed to de-flask growing in-vitro plants to adapt to your environment?

Q3-b:
Are you accustomed to de-flask in-vitro plants on the dormant stage to adapt to your environment?

Q3-c:
Do you have a friend who is familiar with de-flask? Or is there someone who can propagate it for you guys?

I wrote it as “flask”, but I'm actually going to use a thin centrifuge tube.
And I'll try to make the agar medium hard to collapse, though it's not a perfect solution.
Some beautiful cultivars are sterile (cannot make seeds). Even if they produce seeds, they cannot maintain cultivar status traits. It doesn't make sense to send those cultivars as seeds to you guys. Usually.

BTW,
雪割草 is the common name for Hepatica species or cultivars in Japan, but the botanical name in Japan of Hepatica is 三角草. 雪割草 is Primula farinosa subsp. modesta as a botanical name. It's a little confusing.
My username means Hepatica. Of course I like Primula farinosa subsp. modesta as well.

Best wishes
雪割草 (Yukiwarisou or Yukiwariso, 三角草: Misumisou or Misumiso btw)

[Anders]

Hi Yukiwarisou

Welcome to the forum. I live in Denmark and never had any problems with importing seeds from outside EU, ordinary mail is fine, though I am not really sure about the legislation. The same goes for sterile in-vitro plants. And yes, I deflask plants all the time and I also do some in vitro propagation in my home-lab, mostly hardy orchids. 


Anders

[雪割草]

Hi Yukiwarisou

Welcome to the forum. I live in Denmark and never had any problems with importing seeds from outside EU, ordinary mail is fine, though I am not really sure about the legislation. The same goes for sterile in-vitro plants. And yes, I deflask plants all the time and I also do some in vitro propagation in my home-lab, mostly hardy orchids. 


Anders

Hi Anders-san,

Konnichiwa!

Thank you very much for welcoming me.
Thank you very much for the great information! I'm glad to hear you are a TC propagation & acclimatizing expert.

Are you interested in Japanese orchids?
I can get many orchids with exceptions such as endangered species and very expensive species or cultivars.
For alpine orchids, I can cross two different clones and take the seeds out of premature capsules and introduce them into in-vitro condition. In the case of alpine orchids, they are debilitating year by year in my area, if I do not take cooling measures. It is safe to remove the seeds from immature capsule to reduce the risk.
For lowland orchids I would be able to get both seeds or in-vitro plants.

for example,
In the case of Ponerorchis graminifolia, the Ponerorchis graminifolia bubble burst so I can get beautiful cultivars at a reasonable price, once I know your color, flower shape and pattern preferences, I can get multiple clones that seem to suit your taste and cross them to get seeds.
For alpine species such as Dactylorhiza aristata etc, I can introduce immature seeds into the in-vitro condition to avoid the risk of plant weakening before mature seeds are obtained.

The same is true if you are interested in Japanese plants other than orchids.
For cultivars, I introduce from part of the tissue into the in-vitro condition. If the variety is a somatic chimera clone, I would make sure it was the same as the original plant before sending it to you.
Of course, it is not possible to send varieties registered with the Japanese government without permission,
Hepatica cultivars (varieties) have not been registered from the past to the present.
Regarding Ponerorchis graminifolia cultivars (varieties), 4 varieties had been registered in the past, but none are currently registered.

Best wishes
雪割草

[Catwheazle]

Hi,
the regulations seem to be getting stricter and stricter.
A few weeks ago a friend in England was supposed to give me seeds (only 1 serving).
Unfortunately, (German?) customs did not let it through.
Greetings
Bernd

[Vinny 123]

UK law is that all imported seeds should have a phytosannitary cert., but I have never heard of anyone having problems. Equally as important are CITES certificates where needed. As you can see on this link, the regulations are really aimed at commercial crops and potential weed species with everything else referred to as "all other seed intended for planting" - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plant-species-by-import-category/import-requirements-for-plants-plant-produce-and-products#seeds-for-planting

That said, with small packages, often just an envelope, enforcement will be almost impossible

[雪割草]

Hi,
the regulations seem to be getting stricter and stricter.
A few weeks ago a friend in England was supposed to give me seeds (only 1 serving).
Unfortunately, (German?) customs did not let it through.
Greetings
Bernd

Dear Bernd-san,

Konnichiwa!

Thank you very much for your reply.
It's very similar to the situation in Japan. In the case of Japan, it seems that the operation and interpretation of the rules have changed rather than the rules becoming stricter.

I have been getting a lot (tons) of plants and seeds from a friend in Australia for over 20 years. He kept sending them to me free of charge by his incredibe generosity for my breeding trials.
The parcels he sent to me were opened many times by the Phytosanitary Station, but all arrived at me.
He sold seeds and plants all over the world, including Japan. According to him, the parcels he sent to Japan last year were not allowed by customs (or phytosanitary station) to pass through several times. He gave up selling to Japan.
It's unacceptable, and sadly, he passed away the end of August this year, and plant lovers around the world are overwhelmed by a sense of loss.

More than 20 years ago, I sent a Southeast Asian bare rooted plant cultivated in Japan to Germany with a CITES certificate and a phytosanitary certificate. At that time the Japanese government did not charge me for quarantine.

Best wishes
雪割草

[雪割草]

UK law is that all imported seeds should have a phytosannitary cert., but I have never heard of anyone having problems. Equally as important are CITES certificates where needed. As you can see on this link, the regulations are really aimed at commercial crops and potential weed species with everything else referred to as "all other seed intended for planting" - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plant-species-by-import-category/import-requirements-for-plants-plant-produce-and-products#seeds-for-planting

That said, with small packages, often just an envelope, enforcement will be almost impossible

Vinny 123-san,

Thank you very much for your reply.
Again, more than 20 years ago, I sent Mexican plant species in vitro (sterile condition in a test tube) to the UK.
I knew that the plant was not required a CITES certificate but did not know about phytosanitary in the UK. So, I sent it with a phytosanitary certificate just in case.
Japanese customs require a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country, but in-vitro plant (sterile condition in flasks, test tubes etc.) is not required a certificate. What about the UK?
Personally, it is more convenient to introduce plants under sterile conditions than to bring them to the phytosanitary station.

Best wishes
雪割草

[Vinny 123]

Anyone can claim anything about anything. There is no way that Customs would know that something was sterile, unless there was an offcial document that said so - a phytosanitary cert'.

[Anders]

Hi Vinny

If you send in-vitro propagated plants that still are in agar in petri dishes or culture flasks, there is no doubt that they are sterile, otherwise they would be totally overgrown with mold and slime within a day or two. Orchids are exempt from CITES if they are invitro-propagated/still in agar. You also do not need CITES for orchid seeds, but a phyto may be needed (in theory).

Anders

[Vinny 123]

Very strange that CITES is not needed for orchid seed when CITES is needed for seeds of other families - an obvious example being cacti and succulents - I have applied for CITES import permits for Ariocarpus seeds, albeit quite a few years ago now.

I am not going to trawl the DEFRA website to try to find everything applicable, but the page linked to above makes no mention of exceptions, which would be unusual if there are any. Indeed, under the heading "plants for planting" it states that there are no exceptions to a requirement for a phytosanitary cert', except an outright ban on importation. Plants for planting would cover in-vitro plantlets.
If the current UK laws and regulations are at all different to the corresponding EU ones, I would be extremely surprised.

So far as sterility of in-vitro material is concerned, I can see no reason why they could not be contaminated with very many viruses, for instance, as there is no guarantee that the virus would show any effect in the agar. At the end of the day, phytosanitary is nothing to do with sterility of imported material; if it was, the international ornamental plant trade would not exist.

[雪割草]

When Andres-san posted reply # 8, I was convinced that Vinny 123-san would mention the virus. Sure enough, he mentioned. This was a good reaction that led to my next question. Thank you.
It seems that I should attach a phytosanitary certificate when sending in-vitro plants to the UK. Fortunately, I found that I still don't have to pay the government to get a phytosanitary certificate in Japan.
Does anyone know about the operation of UK plant protection other than Vinny 123-san? Of course, the situation in other EU countries.

When I sent the plantlet to the UK, a single plant in a single test tube was quarantined and sent to the UK.
When UK custom house officials (or phytosanitary officers) saw the attached phytosanitary certificate, did they wonder (think, expect), "What kind of virus quarantine did Japanese phytosanitary officers do?"

When a plant is infected with a virus, it does not always have visible symptoms. Symptoms do not appear for months, depending on the situation/environment, or forever.

Without knowing in advance what type of virus to detect, it is usually not possible to test for the presence of a virus.


We must take the virus problem seriously.
But how many effective measures are there?
My knowledge is vague, but the UK imports fresh vegetables from the EU. They are in large quantities. A phytosanitary officer cannot inspect everything. I think they are taking samples and inspecting them. Fresh vegetables are consumed quickly, so there seems to be no problem with virus transmission, but in reality, cocoons of virus-transmitting pests may be attached. Even if you fumigate the inside of a shipping container, you cannot kill all cocoons. And I think people in the UK don't want to eat fumigated fresh vegetables.

Bemisia tabaci or argentifolii is a nuisance. A virus carrier that currently seems impossible to eradicate that spreads a serious viral disease. This pest and the diseases transmitted by this pest also invaded Japan many years ago like other countries in the world. In Japan, in winter this pest parasitizes the greenhouse plants of nurseries and in summer which parasitize the vegetables and flowers planted in the vegetable gardens of ordinary households. In winter, they return to the nursery greenhouse again.
They can attach to people, goods and travel by freight truck, car or train regardless of the plant. They can go back and forth between the UK and the EU during the summer.
It doesn't make sense to lock down the country in the EU as they travel miles on the wind.
The UK might be able to prevent similar pests from invading in the future if the UK is isolated. Although we should be cautious about viruses, Bringing the risk closer to zero can have harmful effects.

I'm not sure about the UK, but there are seed companies in the Netherlands and Japan operating globally. In the case of Japan When breeding parents (establish pure lines) for F1 varieties, it is usually done in Japan, but the actual production of F1 Hybrid seeds is done in the following areas in consideration of labor costs, climate, etc., North America, South America, Southeast Asian highlands, etc. The produced seeds are shipped to Japan. I think there are similar seed companies in the UK. If their seeds are handled by UK plant quarantine officers, they will probably sample and inspect some seeds, not all. How do UK plant quarantine officers inspect seeds for confirming the presence of the virus? About 20% of virus species can infect seeds.

Do they have a list of virus types to be tested by plant type? Do they destroy the seeds and check for the presence of the virus?

Banning the movement of seeds and plantlets by Dutch and Japanese seed companies might make the world's dining tables and garden centers unsatisfactory, btw.

Best wishes
雪割草

[雪割草]

Hi,
the regulations seem to be getting stricter and stricter.
A few weeks ago a friend in England was supposed to give me seeds (only 1 serving).
Unfortunately, (German?) customs did not let it through.
Greetings
Bernd

Dear Bernd-san,

Is this the effect of Brexit? Is it a problem that doesn't happen between you and your French friend?

Best wishes
雪割草

[Vinny 123]

Testing for virus would be economically impossible, especially as many variegated plants are variegated because of virus infection.
I am sure that there are many fungi that will not grow in plant culture agar too.

Phytosanitary checks are only going to avoid/find very obvious problems, even modest insect infestation, especially if at the egg stage when inspected, could get through.

The UK is now a third party to the EU, legally the EU/UK relationship is no different to the relationship between the EU and USA, or Russia, or Thailand, or Japan, or any other country outside of the EU.

A great deal of plant and animal health control is based on monitoring of foreign states, not on certification. For instance - importing live poultry from most of the Far East and Africa, into the EU/UK would be very, very difficult because several serious poultry diseases and zoonoses that are rare or unknown in the EU/UK are endemic to large parts of both. Importing live poultry from the USA would be comparatively simple. This is only a partial answer to the spread of disease as things travel on the wind and via wild animals and birds which do not know of borders.

[雪割草]

I am sure that there are many fungi that will not grow in plant culture agar too.

I haven't heard of pathogens yet that can maintain dormancy on agar medium with plants planted.
Well, if you’re sure they exist then they could be, please let me (and Anders-san and others who practise TC) know about the Scientific names if you know. I will find out if they normally exist in Japan.
Of course, there are harmless fungi / bacteria that cannot grow on MS, LS, B5 and White medium.
In Japan, the quarantine targets are fungi / bacteria / viruses that are or may be harmful to plants. When the Japanese quarantine office expands the targets to all, not only plants, seeds and fruits but also goods and people cannot cross the border. Because their surfaces are full of fungi and bacteria.

Best wishes
雪割草

[MarcR]

In the USA A Phyto costs $30.  None is necessary to import seed on a Small Lots Permit.
Up to 50 packets can be sent per shipment.  A Phyto is required for ANY live plants, bulbs, or roots. and for cuttings.