Bananas.org - Shipping rules for bananas

Hi folks-

In another thread, there was a discussion about the licenses and inspections needed to ship plants through the mail to other states. I did a lot of research a few years ago when I was working in Puerto Rico (a US territory) to bring back some tropical fruit plants (Mango, Papaya. etc), so I felt comfortable doing some follow-up research to see if there were any issues with bananas in my new home state (WA), as I'm just starting to collect bananas to experiment with cold-hardiness.

I asked specifically about bareroot Musa plants shipped from other enthusiasts or researchers in the USA; my inquiry did not include nurseries. I figured nurseries probably already know any rules that apply specifically to them.

I started with USDA/APHIS, and since I wasn't interested in bringing plants into or out of the country, they said they didn't have a problem and it would be up to my state of residence. Musa are not on the 'noxious weed' list for my state (I doubt they are for any state, but I didn't go look them all up). I spoke with the state plant health folks, who didn't have a problem with it, and just got a response from the state dept of agriculture (office of the Nursery Inspection Secretary), who also indicated that all bareroot Musa are acceptable to be shipped to my state without additional inspections or documentation. They did specifically point out that it must be bareroot due to pests like the Japanese beetle (in the past, wet newspapers or paper towels in a plastic bag has proven an effective alternative for other plants I've received in the mail).

So, I suggest that you check with your own State dept of Agriculture to get additional information about shipping plants to your own state, but at least for Washington state, it looks like I'm good to start collecting specimens without all the inspection overhead discussed in the other forum. It pays to make a few phone calls to your state ag office!

Best,
Keith