Last Friday I received a call from the Los Angeles office of the US Department of Agriculture. I was informed that they had a foreign shipment of plants bound for me in hand, and that "all your paperwork is in order, but we suggest that you get a general permit." I protested that the general permit would only be required if I had an intent to profit from the plants. (I knew this only because last week Wayne Turville asked if I could provide information about a shipment that he had sent from Australia. It was being held in Los Angeles while the recipient was being pressured to get something called a "general permit". The recipient was a hobbyist who spoke little English. I had called the central office of the USDA to learn what a general permit was about, and then informed Turville. Apparently my report came too late to avoid the recipient's purchase of the permit.)
When I protested the Los Angeles request, the caller asked if I was a hobbyist, and when I answered in the affirmative he transferred me to a supervisor. I can't reproduce all the words of the supervisor, but they included these phrases: "When you order lots of plants, the computer spits you out...it's for Washington...the expense of looking at the plants...the general permit is only $70 for two years..." Again I protested that I had no intent to profit from the plants, and there should be no need to get a general permit. (This shipment consisted of about 20 small masdevallias and disas, and the only other shipment I have had on my permit arrived last week and consisted of 28 small dendrobiums.) The supervisor backtracked quickly, and became quite polite, though when he confirmed that he would send my plants on to me that afternoon, he said he would include an application for a general permit with them. Not wanting to alienate him more (He had my plants!), I said "fine". Indeed, the general permit is not a great expense, but this way of dealing with things to my mind takes advantage of those not familiar with the system, asking (or rather, manipulating) them to help compensate for the huge deficit resulting from the Bush Administration's tax cuts. Had I not investigated the rules last week, I might well have been intimidated into purchasing the permit myself. I have no idea whether the permit for the hobbiest is free because of laws or regulations, but until the appropriate lawmaking or regulatory body sees fit to change things, it seems to me that hobbyists should not be dunned for more money. The dunning probably adds time delay to the shipment as well. (Would they have held the plants for as long as it took to reach me?) Another oddity is that the call came from Los Angeles, and the callers implied that they had my plants in hand. My green and yellow mailing labels are addressed to the Department of Agriculture in Jamaica, New York. Perhaps the Los Angeles office is in charge of handling this dunning operation for the entire country, regardless of where the plants are physically? I would be interested in hearing about any similar experiences others may have had, and how people feel about the Department of Agriculture's approach to recovering their costs. Bob Gladstone _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
