Anyone buy seeds from overseas ?

23 years ago

I am considering getting some heirloom grains & veges for next year from overseas. Does anyone do this ? Do you know the import restrictions or should I ring MAF & ask them ?

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Comments (3)

LilyII
23 years ago
I haven't bought from overseas, Liz (yet) - contacting MAF sounds like the way to go.

Have you tried NZ suppliers of heirlooms such as "Koanga Gardens" up in Northland? Their seeds are sourced from both NZ and overseas.
Peter_NZ
23 years ago
Assuming you want to bring seed of species that are already officially classified as being present in New Zealand, then seed can be imported by two routes, either having the seed consignment accompanied with a phytosanitary certificate, or by quarantine inspection after it arrives in the country. You can read all about it at the following MAF website - look at the Import Health Standard for seed for sowing, 155.02.05.

http://www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/imports/plants/seeds-sowing.htm

Note that some vegetables, like Brassica napus, Phaseolus, and Pisum, are subject to certain additional requirements, which variously can be:

* a species specific Import Health Standard.
* a Permit to Import.
* additional declarations on the Phytosanitary Certificate.
* a requirement for Post Entry Quarantine.

Be warned that if your chosen vegetable belongs to a species not officially recorded as present in New Zealand by MAF / ERMA, then it is classifed as a New Organism and frankly its not worth even trying, because you have to get an approval from ERMA to import a New Organism, before also getting phytosanitary clearance with MAF. This is costly and often very hard to obtain for plants.
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The larger nurseries that routinely ship to the US will take care of all that for you. I received a shipment of roses from Pickering Nurseries in Ontario this spring, they ship lots of roses to US customers. They take care of all the inspections and permits and they accept payment in US dollars. Could not be easier for the US customer. Nurseries that do not have a system set up will be a whole different ballgame. I haven't done this myself but I've heard people talking about what they had to do to import roses from Germany. You will need a permit from the USDA and you will have to set up in your garden a quarantine area to keep the plants in for some period of time like a year or two. Someone from the USDA will come out to look at it. Importing from Canada is probably a bit less onerous seeing as they're on the same continent. For instance, once at a wholesale nursery I worked at we had a customer who wanted to buy plants from us, on site, to be taken overseas by himself as gifts. We would have had to have the nursery inspector there when he came out, to inspect and certify the plants he chose, and certification requirements depended on where he was taking them. One was going to go to Azerbaijan! they don't let you import anything, inspected or not, so that took care of that. But you could probably drive to BC yourself and bring the plant in, if the nursery can accommodate having an inspector there to certify your purchase for the border crossing. I think I've heard of people doing that.
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Liz_w
Original Author
23 years ago
Well I rung MAF & told them I wanted to get some tomato seeds from overseas. They said that they would need to look at the seeds. So they needed to be declared on the packaging, be clearly labelled with the exact latin name & country of origin. He was very helpful & said he didn't think it should be a problem.

& yeah I had thought of Koanga but the majority of their stuff is for their bio region which does not work for us down here too well.

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Anyone buy seeds from overseas ?

Comments (3)

LilyII

Peter_NZ

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Liz_w
Original Author

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Anyone buy seeds from overseas ?

Comments (3)

LilyII

Peter_NZ

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Liz_wOriginal Author

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Liz_w
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