From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Enumclaw, Washington

We can all sleep better now that we know the US Gov't is protecting us. The vegetable seeds I purchased at the EGVGA Auction were confiscated and destroyed today at the Port of Entry in Chicago. Empty envelope comes to me from the US postal Service, US Dept of Agriculture and the US Customs and Border Protection.
Material not authorized and the phyto-sanitary certificate was missing. They miss drug smuggling, gun running and human trafficking but they got the carrot, cucumber and celery and other veggie seeds. Good job boys.

2/5/2012 3:43:19 AM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

D*mn

2/5/2012 4:53:45 AM

Waquoit Mass

obama

2/5/2012 8:58:09 AM

canal winchester ohio

That's why when I ship seeds out of the US I mark the declaration " decorations". Technically I'm not lying, you can plant them OR make a seed picture...lol

2/5/2012 10:46:57 AM

Netherlands

We will try to replace as many seeds as possible and find another way to get them to you. What we can't replace, we will reimburse.

Auction coordinator

2/5/2012 12:09:56 PM

[email protected]

Brad
If you can get them to me before the 21st I'll mail them on my way to Vegas

2/5/2012 12:15:08 PM

Netherlands

Thanks a lot Eddy. I'll send them out tomorrow.

2/5/2012 12:23:30 PM

Dorval,Quebec

Stateside bubble mailing works really well during weekend trips where gas,meals and a lot of things are 30% less.

2/5/2012 1:29:16 PM

Alaska

Cheney!

2/5/2012 2:09:06 PM

Muddy Waters

Goverment.

2/5/2012 2:15:25 PM

(rocky) Bonney Lake Wa.

Beast master I am pretty sure will be in vegas if you wish a hand to hand delivery. If not he only lives a few miles from me Eddy and I could get them to him. But I do beleve he will be at the big show!

2/5/2012 6:02:08 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Best ever "declaration" I ever witnessed, was pkn seeds proclaimed as "organic guitar pics" !!! Sorry to hear of problems!!! Peace, Wayne

2/5/2012 10:57:40 PM

Enumclaw, Washington

Thanks everyone I we will be in Vegas. One trip my wife demanded I go on. I'm sure it has nothing to do with casino's and video poker.

2/5/2012 11:09:59 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Yes Wayne...that one works.

2/6/2012 12:37:44 AM

Nottingham, UK

I share your pain. I sent three-four good seeds off to Canada last year and the recipitant didnt use them. This year she is coordinating a grow for 20 children so Pumpking and I put together a seed parcel with about 60 seeds in it. Apparently she sent the Paton seeds back but they never arrived. It was good to know so that I could take precautions when mailing her the seed packet as it involved a lot of work.

Now, I can only blame the Canadian customs for being overzealous as the UK customs are a bunch of numpties that let anything in

2/6/2012 5:32:41 AM

Pinesdale,mt

One more for the Chicago port of entry. They removed and destroyed my marrow seeds.Material not authorized entry and phyto-sanitary certificate is missing. I hope we can find away for seed trading to continue. I don,t think there are any healthier seeds in the world than giant seeds we grow.

2/6/2012 2:42:53 PM

canal winchester ohio

There is a way around it, quit writing seeds on the declaration. Kinda like a drug dealer writing "Meth" on the outside of his box ain't it. The screeners look over thousands of things daily & are expected to find things occasionally. When you write "seeds" on the outside your making their job real easy.

2/6/2012 2:46:48 PM

[email protected]

Chicogo is the toughest port of all of them.
As Huff said, don't write seeds on the bubble. pins, guitar picks, etc.
Another thing I do is I use a USA return address, (oops) my bad lol
The bubble is treated as a miss mailed one and generally never checked.

2/6/2012 3:00:51 PM

Pinesdale,mt

The seeds were from the EGVGA silent auction with their return address,but only my address nothing else.white bubble.

2/6/2012 3:19:27 PM

Redmond, Washington; U.S.A.

Beast Master don't worry... I was gonna spray roundup over your vegi patch this year anyways.

2/6/2012 5:45:00 PM

Redmond, Washington; U.S.A.

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors

2/6/2012 6:51:01 PM

Redmond, Washington; U.S.A.

Somebody from customs is going to grow some big @ Carrots.

2/6/2012 6:57:06 PM

[email protected]

All boarder crossings are classed as ports
They are Port of Entry, either by sea or land

2/6/2012 6:59:15 PM

Kaukauna, Wisconsin

I have found you should mail them in a 9 x 12 Envelope with a slightly smaller bubble on the inside. The envelope will be a business flat and no custom report is needed. The port thinks its nothing but paper work.

2/6/2012 7:38:09 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Seriously true, if crossing a boarder, by land, sea, or air!!! Whereever, whatever the "Organic Guitar pics" are going to land, is the point of entry!!! Never "seeds"!!! Garden ornaments, etc. be Creative!!! Peace, Wayne

2/7/2012 2:03:29 AM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Commercial samples, no declared value, usually works

2/7/2012 3:09:29 AM

Cameron

We don't usually have any problems shipping to anywhere. We might lose 1 every year, but we ship on average 100+ BP out to growers everywhere. That's like 99% rate. Not too bad. We write on the customs sticker that it's "giant pumpkin growing supplies" in the BP. As long as you don't add the word SEED, then you should be fine. We hope this helps.

Jane & Phil

2/7/2012 7:58:04 AM

Komoka, Ontario, Canada

I have a whole bunch of USA bubble packs ready to go with the word "seeds" on the declaration form. Emails have been sent Phil and Kirk.
There might be a little delay in mailing these packs until we discuss this and get it figured out.

Pat

2/7/2012 11:23:37 AM

Komoka, Ontario, Canada

I spoke to the supervisor at the Post Office yesterday about mailing the GVGO bubble packs to the US and European destinations. She told me as long as the bubble packs fit through the 1" slot then no customs declaration is required. They should be treated as regular mail. She feels by adding the declaration label may explain why some packs are having problems at customs.
The plan here is take Canada Post's advice and mail the packs without any declaration label and see what happens. We will start with a trial run of 25 packs. I will email the recipients and ask them to reply when they receive their bubble before sending the rest.

2/8/2012 8:51:21 AM

Netherlands

Pat, that is what I did. They were less than an inch thick and I skipped the declaration card as that has worked better in the past then with one.
We have replaced all the seeds for both Bob and Jim and have sent them out again. It is going to take Jim a bit of work finding and digging out the seeds in his new package though...lol
The business envelope with a bubble inside works well for small packages, but not too well for the big seed promos.

2/8/2012 9:31:25 AM