Taking Plants Home To Europe? Possible? Red Tape?

[ArnoJaco]

My mother is coming to visit me in November and she is thinking about maybe taking home (France) some flowers or plants if she comes across anything she likes.

I have no idea whether this is allowed or not by law. I am fairly certain you cannot just take anything with you, but does anyone have any more information on this subject?

Would she be allowed to buy a young plant or flower in a market here and take it with her on the plane back to Europe?

Thank you very much for any feedback.

A.J.

[bina]

orchids are on the list, i think u can purchase orchids that are specially packaged and are permitted but just taking them frm a friend who gives u some is illegal as far as i know (had orchids foisted on me many times and turned them down each time -- they were from the jungles and obviously illegal.

someone here on the forum did some research ; the agric. ministry have a list also i think, but some things arent allowed out; and some things might not be allowed in to your home country . australia obviously comes to mind.

bina

israel

[TBWG]

orchids are on the list, i think u can purchase orchids that are specially packaged and are permitted but just taking them frm a friend who gives u some is illegal as far as i know (had orchids foisted on me many times and turned them down each time -- they were from the jungles and obviously illegal.

someone here on the forum did some research ; the agric. ministry have a list also i think, but some things arent allowed out; and some things might not be allowed in to your home country . australia obviously comes to mind.

bina

israel

In my youth I tried to bring a Christmas tree into the UK from France only to be asked by some smart ar*ed UK customs official to see my import licence from the Ministry of Ag & Fish. Said tree was confiscated and I suspect incarcerated in the officials front room for the Xmas duration!

Point I am making is that it was a problem years ago and things have not improved since then especially with the advent of the EEC.

TBWG

[sbk]

Most countries require phytosanitary certification. France presumably the same. There are places you can by certified sterilized plants but it would require some effort on your part and, given the abundance of plants available (at a price) in France I doubt it would really be worth it.

[Farma]

From looking at French and UK government websites it appears they will allow the following for personal use.

From all other non-EU countries

• 2kg of fruit and vegetables, and

• cut flowers and any parts of plants together forming a single bouquet (maximum of 50 stems), and

• five retail packets of seeds (but not seeds of potatoes).

Edited to add a link to http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=105#0

Per traveller coming from third countries others than those above mentioned, the following quantities are tolerated:

- Up to 2 kg of fruit;

- 1 bouquet of cut flowers or foliages;

- up to 5 bags of seeds, with the exception of potatoes.

This dispensation does not apply to vegetable and plant products for which import is forbidden into the territory of the European Community, nor to genetic matter.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Farma

[ArnoJaco]

orchids are on the list, i think u can purchase orchids that are specially packaged and are permitted but just taking them frm a friend who gives u some is illegal as far as i know (had orchids foisted on me many times and turned them down each time -- they were from the jungles and obviously illegal.

someone here on the forum did some research ; the agric. ministry have a list also i think, but some things arent allowed out; and some things might not be allowed in to your home country . australia obviously comes to mind.

bina

israel

Thank you very much for the information. Much appreciated.

A.J.

[ArnoJaco]

Most countries require phytosanitary certification. France presumably the same. There are places you can by certified sterilized plants but it would require some effort on your part and, given the abundance of plants available (at a price) in France I doubt it would really be worth it.

Thank you very much for your input.

The general impression I am getting is that, though theoretically possible, probably not worth the aggro

Thanks a lot.

A.J.

[ArnoJaco]

From looking at French and UK government websites it appears they will allow the following for personal use.

From all other non-EU countries

• 2kg of fruit and vegetables, and

• cut flowers and any parts of plants together forming a single bouquet (maximum of 50 stems), and

• five retail packets of seeds (but not seeds of potatoes).

Edited to add a link to http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=105#0

Per traveller coming from third countries others than those above mentioned, the following quantities are tolerated:

- Up to 2 kg of fruit;

- 1 bouquet of cut flowers or foliages;

- up to 5 bags of seeds, with the exception of potatoes.

This dispensation does not apply to vegetable and plant products for which import is forbidden into the territory of the European Community, nor to genetic matter.

Thank you very much for the detailed info AND the link. Will have a look there.

Much appreciated.

A.J.