How to send orchid to the states?

[Sunshine_East]

Hi guys,
I am from the far east and I have a friend who was asking if I could send some of my orchids to him at the states. May I check if anyone here been sending orchid to the states before?

Do I need to apply for license?

All advice are welcome.
Thank you.

[Anton]

We have no idea where you are from.

Could you update your profile to show where you are located, this helps with a lot of things including letting you know if you can forward your plants on.

[kmarch]

The movement of orchids across international borders is strictly controlled by CITES (The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species). You can find their website at: http://www.cites.org/

To send orchids form one country to another requires CITES permits and may require other types of documentation depending on the country of origin and of destination.

Contact the department in your government to see what is required to export orchids from your country. Contact the US Fish and Wildlife Service to see what is required to import orchids into the US.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Your friend will need an import permit (free) from the US agriculural department. Then you will need an export pemit from your country and a cyto-certificate from your ag department certifying the plant is free of bugs.

For the US, here is my list of sites to check out:
http://www.ceris.purdue.edu/napis/a-facts/fsship.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/EP/EP04300.pdf
The form needed:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_heal...ppqform587.pdf
And an online way to get the permit, but may be too complicated, for form 587:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/permits/ppq_epermits.shtml

For your country, I have no idea where you would go for the above 2 items. Be sure to send the plants by airmail, or express mail of what ever type you have. Use your governmental mail, as this will eliminate the need for an import agent to clear your plants. Do NOT use a private shipping service.

[Sunshine_East]

Hello guys,
I am getting 1 plant to him and do I need to have the permit for a single plant? It seems like lots of work need to be done to send just a single plant... I thought permit is require for mass import/ export dealers...

[fred]

Yes you will need a permit even for just 1 plant

you will need to contact the US agriculural department for details

[kmarch]

It doesn't matter if you're sending 1 or 1000, it doesn't matter if you're a hobby grower with 1 plant or a commercial nursery with 100,000 plants, any movement of orchids across international borders requires CITES permits and other documentation depending on the country of origin. It's international law and can cary hefty fines and even jail if broken.

[palito]

it's really not worth the hassle and expense of the permits and shipping for just 1 plant.

I *think* the sweet spot is with plants valued over $500 that it makes sense to import.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The import permit for your friend is free. I have no idea what the other permit & cert will cost, as that depends on the country of origin, your country in this case.