Hello,
I recently bid on some fig cuttings from a seller on ebay that is in Israel but ships worldwide. Is it an issue to have them shipped to the United States and is there any hoops I would have to jump through? Here is the item

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221517036688?_trksid=p2059216.m1431.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thank you very much!

this doesn't sound good at all.
I heard , even if you canceled your purchase transaction , they still contact you. 

That auction has 2 days left. Just withdraw your bid.

Hi Reptileaddiction,
In which usda zone are you ?
Are you sure that this variety doesn't need the fig-wasp to set fruit ?
Is the fig-wasp present at your location ? Is that variety in need of a long season ? Do you have a long growing season ?
Does that guy have all the papers/permissions to export to your location ?

If not, better cancel your bid, as you would be playing with fire ... But, that is your risk - and it is up to you, if you take it or not .
If you get the visit, they will take those cuttings and the other fig-trees you may already have to avoid pest transmission to your neighborhood .
So a wise man would say : Don't take that risk !
Why not bid or buy varieties already present in your neighborhood ? They are more adapted to your conditions ...

Do you already have fig-trees ?

I’m in the USA and completely stopped trading/buying overseas. I’ve traded with several countries and bought some cuttings from Portugal on eBay about 18 months ago. I guess they missed me or maybe eBay started reporting people after I bought. Either way I’ll never do it again, too much to risk.

I can assure all israely varieties are drought resistant and dont need the wasp.
There are the known varieties and alot of local varieites not known to the forum which i would like to show the forum hopefully next year.
Anyway all of them are tasty

its just me,
FYI,
18 months does not mean anything to the feds. My visit was after a period longer then that.

Stay off e bay they are working with the feds.

If you can get all the paper work required for your state you can do it, but then you must undergo a quarantine period.  

The seller also has this in their listing:

It's the buyer responsibility to know their country customs and laws.




If you find out what you need for paperwork and the seller is willing to do these for you then you're ok, but the quarantine period is a long one and not guaranteed. 

Whenever I even look at cuttings on EBay I always click US Only so I will not make any mistakes.

 Pino posted " plant material (no soil) from continental USA to S. Ontario only requires a phytosanitary certificate. ".
I bought rooted fruit trees from Loews that were not grown locally and they were close to root bound meaning not potted here in Canada for current year sale. It is possible there may be different rule for Corporations.
Am I right that with thousand of plants shipped to these big box retailers in Canada the cost of phytosanitary certificate per plant becomes insignificant compared to that for  individual hobbyist importers?

Ottawan,
Don't know if they would need 1 per plant?
Not an expert by any means in this area and beware that the laws may change. 
 
But I think when bringing plants with soil into Canada they may also need more such as an  Import Permit?

I still have the USDA officials name and number just in case you need it. I would rather call him than him call me again.

Thanks Pino.
I meant "average per plant" for the truck loads just to show how differently it works out , and the relative disadvantage to the individual buyers.

"I still have the USDA officials name and number just in case you need it."

As do I.


Withdraw your bid, buy only from USA.
Even then check with the laws in the state you
are sending or receiving from.

So much better to be safe than sorry and not just waiting for that call or visit from USDA.

Doug

To make things clear (and so Gina doesn't think I tried to smuggle figs).

My screw up came from complete carelessness.
I ordered 20 kaffir lime seeds on Ebay for $2.95 one late night.
When the envelope came I was surprised to see it had originated in Thailand.
My first thought was "How the heck can they turn a profit shipping seeds from Thailand for less then 3 bucks".

None of the seeds germinated so I threw the rotted seeds and dirt in the trash. I never reuse soil from anything that fails.

Anyway, I had long forgotten about these pathetic seeds until one day 2 feds drove all the way from Baltimore to talk with me. That's a 4 hour drive round trip and they did say their only visit near me was me.

I was very lucky as they believed me about the seeds rotting and my having disposed of the soil.

Since then I have called the senior agent a couple times to ask about certain shipping issues. He has been very nice, but each time he does make sure he hints about how lucky I was and how I better take his advise. And that buying smuggled figs - even from friends who have never been visited can result in the confiscation of every plant I have.

I also learned to look at the country of origin. If its not legal I don't want it. The reason i kept it he said if i had any questions to call him if i couldn't find the answer. It sounds easy enough to me.