Hello everyone,

This last Sat. I received a call from USDA, he ask me if I bought some Fig cutting on Ebay from Portugal and I said yes. This June I ordered 4 fig cuttings from a gentleman in Portugal.The man said what I done was against the Law and he told me to put them in the freezer until he comes to get them (he said maybe a month)...I said, so I am going to be out $35.00 and he said yes. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem The fig cutting were Black Madeira Big Flat Figs...


Frank

Golly, what a shame the seller didn't have the papers or offer your money back. Now you will have to wrap those cuttings up and preserve them for him and keep them separate from your other cuttings, so they don't get mixed in and confused.

Does the USDA know how long the cuttings are?  Just thinking...  But really its horrible because the seller probably knew that there would be a problem and sells here anyways.

Give him some Brown Turkeys.
"gene'

Looks like you need to trim your least favorite tree. Cut them now and let them dry a bit then freeze them. It might be a good idea to let someone plant sit your best trees for awhile.

My first thought would be the same as some of the above but if you got caught, that could be really bad.  I agree with Meghan, the seller probably knows what he's doing is illegal and does it anyway.  Sorry for your loss.  =(

people make mistakes sending mislabeled varieties on occasion I don't see how you could get in trouble if you swapped them out.

The seller is no more in the wrong than the buyer in such cases. This has been discussed many times. A buyer is required to have an import permit. The permit would tell you that the cuttings need to be accompanied with a copy of this permit plus a phytosanitary certificate and your new plants would need to be quarantined at an approved location.

I received a notice from the USDA also regarding the same seller from Portugal. I am handing over my plants on Tuesday. They tracked through EBAY and when I spoke to officer, she mentioned that the cuttings could harbor Asian Long Horn Beetle. I lost about half of cuttings in the rooting process. I am handing over the rest with no questions and no games played. Learned a bit late through this forum but don't want to endanger our trees. My loss.

As I recall, there's an ebay seller doing time right now in a federal prison for this type of thing.   He got 3 to 5 years if I remember correctly.  If I remember (or can find)  his ebay name I'll post it here.

Don't mess with the feds.

All cuttings from Portugal, Turkey and China ( to name a few) are restricted according to the USDA agent. Just mentioning these three countries because alomst half of the cuttings presently listed on EBAY are from these three countries.

oh? like beetles don't cross country frontiers. same as bed bugs and cockroaches, excuse my ignorance, but how would an agent know if a stick is a BT or a BM??

I like many others have been tempted to buy from other countries. A lot of people believ the fig is sweeter on the other side of the ocean. This may be true but then it may not.

It has been shown by many members on tbe forum the same tree (through cuttings) will grow and develop differently in different parts of our own USA.

If someone overseas has a fig tree and wants to sell cuttings do you really know what it is?? I doubt it very much unless you have been there wnd have eaten the fruit yourself. There are probably thousands of varieties of figs right here without a "name " attached to it. Whwn someone gets a cutting from a tree like this they may name it from the family they got it from, the street it grows on or the town it grows in. The sellers overseas may be doing the same thing!!

Some people only want "named " varieties in their collection, how would you know from overseas????

I will stickwith getting my sticks from the members here who live in the State and will only trade with those members too.

The powers at be are trying to protect this country. Could you imagine the problems we could potentially have if every type of hobbyist felt that it was "OK just this once " to import something illegally?? Everyone who has a hobby thinks theirs is special and different from everyone elses - they aren't, we aren't. We are a bunch of fignatics who are looking for the perfect fig wherever it may grow.

Besides, keeping the sales here is good for the economyy!!!!

Better to play it safe and give him the cuttings and any information regarding the seller you have. I'd also be concerned with any other fig cuttings/pots/trees you have that are in plain site. 

This subject has been mentioned manny manny times. Even this seller has been mentioned several times.
Ignorance is not an excuse.
Coincided yourself lucky they are only going to take some cuttings and possibly a few plants.

I was looking on ebay and there are ALOT of these postings for cuttings from China & Turkey.  But I also found this listing for plants from England.  Does anyone know about buying something like this? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ice-Crystal-Fig-Tree-/221270808694?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3384c49876

And I agree with several of the posts.  Ignorance of the law doesn't make us exempt from it.  And even if at times it doesn't seem that way the USDA is really trying to do a greater good and keep our existing tree's safe. 

Is there anything we can do as a group?  Contact Ebay for example? 

wow.. g-man working on sat. x)

Harvey, That's my bad.  I knew the seller was required to have and send paperwork but I didn't realize the BUYER was required to have a permit also.  I will have to read the USDA requirements more closely.  Thank you for the clarification on all of this.  

Meghan,

    We could either find an importer and pay a service fee, or create an importer and pay a service fee. Anyonw who imports would ensure that the paperwork is in order any any quarantine or inspection is complete.

Everyone in this position should contact ebay and complain.  When the feds talk to you you should ask them to make ebay stop alowing people in foreign countries to sell here.  It would be simple for ebay to do and as a conduit for smuggling they could be subject to large fines.  I can't understand why the USDA goes after 1 person at a time rather than shutting off the spigot.

You don't have to like it, but here are the rules:  USDA

Has anyone ever been fined for such a transaction?  Or do they just loose their cuttings?

Alan,

Bob has a very valid point. F4F, as a group and non-profit organization can write to eBay to end the illegal sale of plant material and cite the USDA regulations.

Until eBay is notified that the sales of these products are not meeting federal requirements the sales will continue. Members in the USA who purchase on the eBay site are afforded their Protection Plan to ensure there is no liability of lose if a sale fails to be correct or legal. 

***Finally, as a student prepping for law school, I must say... the above noted material is not meant to be or thought to be legal advise.***