I'm glad this thread is getting back to a civil place.  In defense of the USDA and their occasional overreach (regardless of your political persuasion):

There are many many instances over the last few hundred years where humans have introduced organisms into areas where they had not been seen, and the impacts have been anywhere from annoying to devastating.  I'll list a few.  In case you're not already aware of them just google them or look on wikipedia to see what has happened, and maybe you won't be quite as mad when the USDA and APHIS are uptight.  It only takes one careless citizen to make a mistake.  So the threat to economies and ecosystems is real.

1. rabbits into Australia
2. phylloxera into Europe
3. Japanese beetle into U.S.
4. Kudzu into southeast U.S.
5. Asian silver carp into U.S.
6. Pythons into FL
...

Well, whilst we're all in conciliatory mode, I hope you guys realize I was only ribbin' ya about not getting irony. That widely-held belief died over here about 15-20 yrs ago when your stand-up comics turned that cliche on its head.  

Rob, you are right.  Here are a few more introduced to the US by man:

starlings
English sparrows
Japanese privet
chestnut blight
Dutch elm disease
Norway maple
ambrosia beetle
Japanese beetle
boll weevil

even mosquitos in Hawaii

Don't forget the mongoose they turned loose on Hawaii! Those things are EVERYWHERE.

Brown viper in Guam

Come on guys......please. Let's talk about figs, fig butter, fig jam, fig kabobs, fig and rice, figs salad, fig stew, fig cheesecake, fig pie......... and one more.....figs!

Marbled Stink Bugs are a big pest introduced here. Every fall they make there way into the house showing up throughout the whole winter. We also have the Emerald Ash Borer killing all the Ash trees. They are believed to have came over in some wooden packing crates.

I think the USDA did the right thing. Our country is already infested with invasive species that are destroying the habitats of native plants and animals. However the battle against most is far too late.

I say we ban political talk completely as it destroys threads and turn one against another. Leave this forum to fig talk only!!

[QUOTE=dkirtexas]...Just curious how the right of seizure without process applies.  Really question my sanity in asking this in a public forum but I was curious.[/QUOTE]

It's called contraband.

If it is contraband it is seizable because by definition all items designated to be contraband are illegal to possess. Therefore if you cannot legally possess it they can not leave it with you and they must seize it.

Charles,

    Yes, they can seize contraband, but the question is one of due process: How do they just walk onto your property and start taking things and what is the process be which they keep them (from the owner)?

Tony, yeah, those stinkbugs are a major pain. I've been finding those and the new Asian tiger mosquito on my Lattarula. I think they like the shade and moisture under the canopy. So far they haven't done any apparent damage to the tree though.

[QUOTE=jpeaspanen]Just curious, but how does the USDA handle seeds (not from figs but from other plants) shipped from abroad? I have always seen seeds for plants I want online for sale from Asia and Europe. To date, however, I have never ordered any, as I was worried about possible restrictions.[/QUOTE]

If I remember correctly the definition of a plant in the USDA's mind is any part of a plant that is viable. Seeds, unrooted cuttings and in some plants even just the leaves

On The other hand,if ,healthy specimen,of the best tasting premium cultivars will not be introduced from outside by our government,or by some private parties,legal or Illegal,then ,the ,heavily infected with multiple Fig mosaic diseases and viruses,of the,specimen,we  have in US, now, of Col de Dame  white,Madeira black,Barnisotte black,Ischia Black,Verdal Longue,Grise de Saint Jean,Green Ischia,and many others,will continue to spread in this country,causing a lot of frustration,lost time work and money,for American Gardeners.
All this inconveniences,while healthy trees are growing somewhere in ,Grece,or Itally,but Cuttings are ,not allowed to come in,from those clean cultivars.
We have to keep in mind that ,Ficus Carica,is not native to US,and all cultivars,were imported,no exception.
I understand that importation of plants with leaVES,and roots should be prohibited,as they can harbor,insects or fungal diseases,but a dormant piece of wood,in the Winter,is a very safe alternative,that has ,close to zero,danger,of unwanted,extra items coming with the wood.
If I was an European working at custom,I would be much more alert and totally prohibit,the Importation,of fig plants,or parts of fig plants from the USA,because,we are the ones having the most diseased specimens of Ficus Carica on the face of the earth,in this point in Time.
In my opinion,our stock is a problem,not EU ,importations.
Of course I do not advocate smuggling of live plants from anywhere without proper ,inspection,I just stated ,my opinion,of where we are today,concerning Ficus carica.

[QUOTE=musillid]Charles,

    Yes, they can seize contraband, but the question is one of due process: How do they just walk onto your property and start taking things and what is the process be which they keep them (from the owner)?[/QUOTE]

There are papertrails for all imported material and the government has the right and responsibilty to examine any, all or none as they see fit. Once it leaves the port of entry it is still under their control. If it involves imported material and it was imported illegally, they can take it if you allow them. That is not to say you can say NO and they will just go away. If they approach you and ask questions that you refuse to answer, they do have the right to detain you and your property while they go before a judge and get a search warrant. After they get the search warrant you have had your due process. I can assure you that is not the way to go about handling the situation as you will surely have violated POP by then. What is POP? Pissing of the Police. The penalty for that is they can and may cite you for every infraction that they find and with the Search warrant they are legally there so you are pretty much a open book for them to examine.

Keep in mind that it is illegal to possess contraband so you really can't "OWN" it. You can be held responsible for it! Cooperation is your best friend in these citizen encounters as they are initially referred to. Of course I am referring to generally good people who may have made an innocent mistake or maybe just didn't think it was a big deal.

On the other hand if your are a criminal maybe a good defense attorney is your best friend, well at least until you run out of money to pay them!

Charles,

     You got my point.

Is there a borer that is a problem for figs in Israel? I wonder if this might be accidentally spread through dormant cuttings. I had a surprise inspection by APHIS folks around October 2012, if I recall correctly. They called me when they were about five minutes away. They had someone given them a "tip" I was growing Italian chestnuts. I told them ther waso paerwork to be had but gave them the name of an agency that had handled some of the imports and five year quarantine, etc. They thanked me and left, no problems. Dennis, the figs are very fine, thanks for asking! :)

[QUOTE=HarveyC]You are required to have an import permit through APHIS and the cuttings must be sent with a phytosanitary certificate and then you must keep them in quarantine for a period of time specified on your import permit (2 years, I believe).  Cuttings from Canada are not required to undergo a quarantine period but all other foreign origins do.[/QUOTE]


Maybe entirely correct...I have no idea.....So what do we do if we don't know the importation history of our fig trees?