Galanthus in the USA

[Jane]

Hi All,

I have been very lucky to have an excellent contact at APHA to help with getting the correct documentation in order to ship our bulbs over to the US.  With regards to Galanthus hybrids not needing a CITES certificate, this is untrue.  On every certificate we have to put the relevant species of the Snowdrop or if a cross we must write hybrid.  Our CITES certificates once filled in and sent over to CITES then get forwarded on to Kew Gardens and they will contact us if the see a variety of species of Snowdrop that they cannot find any written information about.  We have had this happen once with a cultivar that was relatively new and we forwarded them the details of who we bought the bulb of for them to check.  They are very thorough.  Getting the CITES certificates back can take up to 3 months, if they are really busy and it is bird season at CITES!  I should also mention that they are meticulous with regards to the forms being filled out properly and will return them if they are not satisfied!

With regards to the Potato nematode certificate, our soil is tested every year for the US as this their requirement. 

In order to be given the pystosantiary certificate every bulb is individually inspected by the lady from APHA using a hand held microscope!  If she was not happy the bulbs they would not be allowed to be despatched.

In the last box that we sent over there was 2kg of paperwork which included the CITES, phytosanitary certificate, Potatoe nematode certificate and the import licences for the US.  Without all of this paperwork the bulbs would not be allowed through customs!  The courier company that we used also inspect the bulbs in the box to make sure that we have the correct paperwork and that we are only posting what we say are on their documents.  We also had to register with the government as exporters to get a special number to put on all of our documentation, otherwise the parcel would be delayed in UK customs!  I should also mention that US customs will not allow the box to travel if you do not pay the import duty once it has cleared their customs.

I apologise for rattling on here, I just thought that you might like to here first hand what it takes as a business to get the bulbs to the US.

Best wishes,

Jane

[johnw]

Sound somewhat similar to Canadian requirements.  In our shipments as you mention every cultivar & selection had its own CITES certificate, the first form I received from the friend who handled the shipments was for 2 Straffan, there must have been a huge stack of CITES sheets with every shipment over the years.

john

[annew]

Also worth noting that the cost of an export CITES certificate is the same whether the shipment contains one bulb or 10000 bulbs. So best to combine orders into one shipment!

[annew]

Hi All,

I have been very lucky to have an excellent contact at APHA to help with getting the correct documentation in order to ship our bulbs over to the US.  With regards to Galanthus hybrids not needing a CITES certificate, this is untrue.  On every certificate we have to put the relevant species of the Snowdrop or if a cross we must write hybrid.  Our CITES certificates once filled in and sent over to CITES then get forwarded on to Kew Gardens and they will contact us if the see a variety of species of Snowdrop that they cannot find any written information about.  We have had this happen once with a cultivar that was relatively new and we forwarded them the details of who we bought the bulb of for them to check.  They are very thorough.  Getting the CITES certificates back can take up to 3 months, if they are really busy and it is bird season at CITES!  I should also mention that they are meticulous with regards to the forms being filled out properly and will return them if they are not satisfied!

With regards to the Potato nematode certificate, our soil is tested every year for the US as this their requirement. 

In order to be given the pystosantiary certificate every bulb is individually inspected by the lady from APHA using a hand held microscope!  If she was not happy the bulbs they would not be allowed to be despatched.

In the last box that we sent over there was 2kg of paperwork which included the CITES, phytosanitary certificate, Potatoe nematode certificate and the import licences for the US.  Without all of this paperwork the bulbs would not be allowed through customs!  The courier company that we used also inspect the bulbs in the box to make sure that we have the correct paperwork and that we are only posting what we say are on their documents.  We also had to register with the government as exporters to get a special number to put on all of our documentation, otherwise the parcel would be delayed in UK customs!  I should also mention that US customs will not allow the box to travel if you do not pay the import duty once it has cleared their customs.

I apologise for rattling on here, I just thought that you might like to here first hand what it takes as a business to get the bulbs to the US.

Best wishes,

Jane

Jane, I'm exhausted even reading about it!

[Rick Goodenough]

I think Jane hit all of the major permutations on importing Galanthus to the U.S. A heroic effort by Jane and Dave on preparing for the event of a shipment, let alone growing, digging and packaging the bulbs...quite an undertaking. I can personally vouch for every U.S. recipient that I have talked with as they are immeasurably appreciative to access the wonderful range of bulbs being grown and shipped across the seas by Cornovium Snowdrops. No one knows the ins and outs of this extremely convoluted process any better than they.

This is why I expressed such hope at the remote prospect of CITES requirements for hybrids to be reduced, but alas, we are saddled with it all for the foreseeable. A huge thank you to Jane and Dave for going through these veritable gauntlets and mazes in order to accommodate us pesky Yankee enthusiasts. 

Rick

[Maggi Young]

Another supplier of snowdrops in the US of A  :
http://www.jerryfritzgardendesign.com/shop/snowdrops/?fbclid=IwAR0Mx2g9i7flgFtMMy5O2AUuHJZxt11UI95S2l8xTQdDGKDFxP94KixxaJg

[Alan_b]

Another supplier of snowdrops in the US of A  :
http://www.jerryfritzgardendesign.com/shop/snowdrops/?fbclid=IwAR0Mx2g9i7flgFtMMy5O2AUuHJZxt11UI95S2l8xTQdDGKDFxP94KixxaJg

A pity the list depends so heavily on the "composer" series of snowdrops.  Opinion in the UK seems to be that these owe their existence more to a Dutch marketing ploy than to intrinsic merit.  And I wonder if 'Blue Trym' arrived with a Cites certificate?