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From: Laura & Dave <toadlily at OLYWA.NET>
Subject: Seeds and the validity of a phyto
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Put my mark in the lucky column; the seeds arrived today.

Carlo raised a good point, that prompts me to ask a question (or many). H=e Wrote:
The seed regulations are not just for weed seed and insects. Fungal an=d
bacteriological pathogens are invisible to the eye but are also cause =for
concern on the part of the regulators.

What I really don't know is what and how does an inspector who is issu=ing
phyto-sanitary certificates conduct an inspection? I've received many fro=m a
number of different countries; is there a set of international standards =that
are applied? What education and/or training are needed to be an inspector=?
The ideal of receiving only healthy plant material is something I can =get
along with, since I'm not really well trained at spotting pathogens. But,=if
many pathogens are invisible, what do the inspections really accomplish? =It
appears to me that the certificate is mostly a verification that the ship=per has
complied with packing requirements (i.e.., bare root, cleaned bulbs, etc.=) and
provided proper documentation. The bulk of the confirmation of healthy pl=ant
material seems to rely on the care and integrity of the grower/shipper. P=erhaps
some of you members that ship plants could elaborate on the process you g=o through?
However, I don't want to give the impression that I think that inspect=ions
are a bad thing in principle. I once shipped some seed to myself, one spe=cies of
which had an insect egg cache that I'd missed during cleaning. The seed w=as
caught and taken, and I was quite thankful that I was saved from having t=o
battle some weird insect in my greenhouse.

Dave Brastow
Tumwater, WA ; zone 7A