For my fellow Canadians I just received notice today that my Plant Health Import Permit is cancelled due to new regulations and pest risk management.  Now to import Ficus propagative materials requires a pest risk assessment other than from the following countries: 

Continental U.S., and China, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, Thailand

This means if you live in Canada and want to import from Europe you will need a pest risk assessment done in order for a import permit to be approved as I understand it, I sent an e-mail to find out more to just make sure I am clear on this.  As far as I know it takes more time to get a pest risk assessment than just getting the import permit so if you want to import from any country other than the ones listed above, you may want to get your paperwork done early to avoid any delays.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/plant-protection/directives/risk-management/rmd-12-06/eng/1373311999178/1373312000522 

thanks for the heads up

Thanks for the heads up Chivas.

I am glad that I had imported a bunch before all these new requirements. Permits/fees used to cost less than $100 but now, it is expansive relative to the few plants I aspire to have. I fully agree it is best to check with CFIA before importation as requirements changes all the time. In the past when I import fig material, I wrote CFIA in Ottawa & they were most helpful with info. In fact such info from CFIA helped me to clear customs as officers interpret requirements differently. I show them all my correspondence
with CFIA.

Good news is that there are many good varieties in Canada especially up your way.

Weird that Australia isn't on the list and China is allowed given our strict quarantine rules.

I think the countries that don't require the PRA are already very strict while issuing their phytosanitary certificates and that the CFIA and USDA have a large concern with the long horned beetle which then translated into just a general concern of any pests that may be traveling on fig cuttings or trees.  That is just a guess on my part.

I have received several replies from CFIA so now it will become more costly and timely to import to Canada from restricted areas.

"you would need to apply for a PRA (this is done by checking a specific box on the Application for Permit to Import).  You would then be charged $250, and the wait time for the completion of this assessment is between 2-3 years, due to the extensive research that must go into each assessment."

Funny how hard they make to import figs, yet it's ok to let in foreigners who live off welfare for years lol gotta love Canada.

Hi James

Will you still be able to import a plant from Western Europe?

Thx

Rafael

I will not be able to until I apply for a new permit then apply for the PRA and wait 2-3 years and if they clear the origin to be acceptable to import from.  Similar to the USDA regulations except you do not get the plant material, you do not quarantine it (although who knows they may change that too) you just wait and see if they say yes or no.  If I am so inclined to order again it will cost more and take more time.  I am already trying to reduce numbers of trees so there is a good chance that I will not re apply especially with no certainty that I will be able to import from them.  

With all honesty, Jon has imported from Europe with trees that are in Qaurantine or open, so it would seem to be easier for me to wait for their quarantine to be finished and then import from them from the us when they take cuttings, since he is a nursery that can issue a phytosanitary certificate, when the restriction of him shipping to Canada is up, it will still work out cheaper and more certain than me waiting for my PRA to be processed and validated (if at all).

That's too bad we have to jump thru all these hoops. Thank you.

Canada will probably follow the USDA APHIS requirements, which essentially prohibit the importation of all ficus from all but about half a dozen countries because of Citrus Longhorn Beetle and another LongHorn Beetle.

If that is true it means that even after the assessment they will deem it to not be allowed, not great news but I do love my citrus too so I will live with it.

Here is the USDA APHIS Manual. The website should be up when the government is through punishing us for not paying enough taxes. See TABLE 2-10 Regulating Host-Country Combinations for Anoplophora chinensis (CLB) and Anoplophora glabripennis (ALB) from "Other than Canada"  >> Ficus >> Other than from China, Netherlands, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Thailand, PROHIBIT ENTRY. That is a change from earlier this year when the 10 mm rule was in effect.

Good opportunity to get this lingering question off my mind. I hope some one has the info.

How is a backyard gardener cost of importing (including permit, PRA, Phyto-certificate whatever apply) from US to Canada (say ) 3 plants compares to the cost paid by companies like Wall Mart, How Depot & other big box retailers importing thousands of plants from US to Canada. My question is basically to know how these costs varies with the number of plants in one order of "n" number of plants from a nursery. "n" could be just "1" Redhaven peach for a backyard gardener and 5000 Rehaven peach plants by Home Depot distributed to all its outlets from one location in Canada.

For me, the cost of international phyto is about $125, for one plant or a truckload.

When I last got import permit it was 35-40$, pyhto was 70 euro (98 cdn) and now PRA is 250, if they were able to allow you to import from europe those costs would add up to 388 cdn plus 40 euro (56 cdn) shipping before the cost of the plants or cuttings.  For US the permit should be the same price, plus the phytosanitary certificate that Jon gave a figure for, then shipping and plant or cutting cost.  By the way Jon, are you going to be able to ship to Canada anytime soon?  I like some of the Bananas you have.

It depends on Canada's view of our LBAM situation. Last time they required 3 years after the end of the quarantine period, which is not over, yet.