Quote:
Originally Posted by sunfish
I am pretty sure by houseplant they mean bringing in plants that you have been growing as house plants not ones you will grow as houseplants
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I have been communicating with this woman at the CFIA for a while as I have been trying to find out what is needed to import bananas into Canada. I explained to her that I wanted some tropical types for my greenhouse so she is well aware of the type of "houseplant" I am after. There is a website call AIRS which is the CFIA "automated import reference system". Using this system you can determine what is needed to bring something into the country. As per the system, you must use the general term of houseplant as using any latin name or common plant name if too specific therefore they are lumped under the generic. Using this system, if I wanted to order a plant from Florida and have it shipped to Washington State where I would pick it up, no permits are required.
As her instructions and the AIRS website:
HS DESCRIPTION: 060290
06 Live trees and other plants; bulbs, roots, and like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage
02 Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn
90 Other
OGD EXTENSION: 00229
0022 Other propagative materials - (House plants, for personal use and not for resale)
99 Other - houseplants (houseplants, for personal use and not for resale, exluding chrysanthemum)
ORIGIN: UFL
US United States
UFL Florida
DESTINATION: BC
BC British Columbia
END USE: 46
46 Travellers & personal use and not for resale or distribution
MISCELLANEOUS: 713
713 plants accompanying importer at time of entry into Canada
Recommendations to CBSA/Documentation and Registration Requirements
APPROVED
Importer / Broker Instructions
Houseplants must be for personal and non-commercial use only (total number of plants must not exceed 50 houseplants). Houseplants must accompany the importer at the time of entry into Canada in baggage or as part of household effects.
- subject to inspection by CFIA
If, however, I was to bring in plants from Thailand, I would - as per AIRS - be require not only to have the phyto certification but an import permit as well. If I wanted to bring some plants from California, I would require a phyto certificate because of SOD - "sudden oak death" which is transmitted through soil - regardless of whether I was shipping them direct to Canada or picking them up Washington.
So far I have discovered that both Florida and Georgia are places that I can order from and have shipped to Washington where I would pick them up.