Unsolicited packets of seeds from China draw state warnings

Officials in several states are urging residents to report any unsolicited packages of seeds that appear to have been sent from China, warning that they might be invasive or otherwise harmful.

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture said Monday afternoon that it “has not received any seeds, but has received several calls and emails from Arkansas citizens who have received them” and that it expected “guidance” soon from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The department issued a news release Friday afternoon warning about the seed packages.

The agriculture departments in Washington state, Louisiana, Kansas and Virginia have issued statements in recent days, noting that residents had reported receiving packages of seeds in the mail that they had not ordered. Based on photos, the seeds appear to have been mailed in white pouches displaying Chinese lettering and the words “China Post.”

Some of the packages were labeled to say they contained jewelry, according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

Packages of seeds also have been sent to residents in Utah, Arizona and Ohio, according to local news reports.

A Toole, Utah, resident told news station Fox 13 that she posted about the situaThe

tion on Facebook after receiving two of the packages, and said at least 40 people responded to her saying the same thing happened to them.

Lori Culley said the packaging indicated earrings were inside.

“I opened them up and they were seeds,” Culley told the TV station. “Obviously they’re not jewelry!”

Officials are warning people not to plant the seeds.

“Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants or be harmful to livestock,” the Washington state Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

Police in Whitehouse, Ohio, where a resident reported receiving seeds, said the packages appeared to be a part of a “brushing” fraud.

In North Carolina, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services also said the shipments were likely the product of a brushing scam.

“According to the Better Business Bureau, foreign, thirdparty sellers use your address and Amazon information to generate a fake sale and positive review to boost their product ratings,” said Phil Wilson, director of the state’s Plant Industry Division.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service encourages people to report “potential smuggling of prohibited exotic fruits, vegetables or meat products.”

Mike Strain, the commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said in a statement Friday that people should notify his department if they had received an unsolicited package of seeds.

“Right now, we are uncertain what types of seeds are in the package,” Strain said. “Out of caution, we are urging anyone who receives a package that was not ordered by the recipient to please call the LDAF immediately. We need to identify the seeds to ensure they do not pose a risk to Louisiana’s agricultural industry or the environment.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carolee Bull, a professor who leads the department of plant pathology and environmental microbiology at Penn State University, said planting unidentified seeds could be harmful.

“The reason that people are concerned is — especially if the seed is the seed of a similar crop that is grown for income and food, or food for animals — that there may be plant pathogens or insects that are harbored in the seed,” she said.

Seed introduction is tightly regulated in the United States, Bull said. The Plant Protection and Quarantine program, which is operated by the Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has strict rules for the importation of plants and seeds.

“Say that when I import seed into the country that has not been here before — wheat seed, for example — I know they’ll bring it in and they’ll actually grow it out at the APHIS facility to check it for disease,” Bull said.