If all goes well, you can smile at your Pink Popsocks that no-one else has.

The fee for this is roughly $117 – check the MPI website for fee updates: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/importing/ plants/seeds-for-sowing/fees-andcharges/

If all goes well, you can smile on receipt of your new Pink Popsocks cosmos that none of your friends have.

Bad seeds

Sometimes things don’t go well.

“I have had a shipment from a new supplier held by MPI as they were not correctly labelled by the supplier,” says Austin. “I was allowed to send the correct plant genus and species names, and after payment of a processing fee my seeds were released.

“However, if they are not permitted in the country, or are unclean, then the customer can choose to either send them back whence they came or have them destroyed – both are an added cost, usually.

“For the suppliers who don’t label their seeds as MPI require, I usually arrange with them now to add the correct naming after ordering their seeds. I send them the list I have ordered with the correct genus and species, and they add them onto the packets for me.

“I have had seeds ordered for a customer go astray in the mail and instead of turning up in the right season (approximately three weeks to ship), they have arrived after the season has finished (approximately three months to ship). It is quite hard to trace a package that does go astray when buying from overseas.”

There is also the possibility that a particular batch of seeds ordered from overseas doesn’t germinate. This has happened to me, and to Austin too.

“Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the batch of imported seeds will not germinate. I have had this happen a few times, and so now I try to germinate seeds randomly from each incoming batch. If I find that the batch isn’t germinating properly, I take the item off the market immediately.

“The costs for the batch, of course, are lost and also the goodwill from any customer who was sent seeds from this batch before it was taken off the market. In this case, if they let me know, I will check that their batch is viable and

refund the cost if it looks like it won’t germinate.

“I can recoup some of these costs if the germination is just low by selling the resulting plants from the random seed trial on the website.

“Some seeds, particularly perennials, take a special set of temperatures and a long time to germinate, and to prove they are viable ca take some time.”

John Reeve is the owner of Tauranga-based Gardenpost/ Wildflower World. It’s one of New Zealand’s largest garden mail order companies and imports bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes and seeds from all over the world.

John goes one step further to ensure there are no problems with seed viability when he imports his wildflower seeds from the USA. “Firstly, we send our order off to th the company we are d dealing with and they w will send back a seed a analysis report on

each batch of seeds. This shows both a viability report and purity analysis. It also shows the testing method used and how much seed was analysed.

“The viability report shows the viable seed percentage for a batch while the purity report gives a breakdown of how

much pure seed, other crop seed,

weed seed and inert matter was

in the sample. It also identifies the

weed and noxious weed seeds found in the sample.

“If the viability is acceptable we

then need to check the NZ MPI

Plant Biosecurity Index website

for any weed seed that is present in the sample and see if it is allowed into the country. We often lose 2-3 lines because the weed seed or other crop seed present is banned.

“Once this is complete, we resubmit our updated order and notify Mainfreight’s Air and Ocean division which corresponds with the seed company to collect and deliver our order. The seed company provides a phytosanitary certificate that is sent with the order.”

The incoming seed is inspected. John

“We often lose 2-3 lines because the weed seed or other crop seed present is banned.”

says occasionally there is an issue that may require the destruction of the seed.

“But in most cases, if there is an issue, we are required to meet with MPI staff and rework the product. It then is re-inspected and, if satisfied, the MPI staff allow its entry.”

All these checks are additional costs, something to bear in mind if you wish to import large amounts of seed.

Freight charges can be another big expense, especially when you’re ordering from some European countries, and especially if you’re ordering only small numbers.