[CH] RE: Seeds were not delivered
Alex Silbajoris (asilbajo@hotmail.com)
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 16:24:50
I sent seeds to a list member in NZ once, and suspecting they were illegal,
I packaged them as an ordinary letter. They made it OK, and since then I
have seen pictures of the plants they produced. As far as I know, no killer
blight has slain the NZ pepper crop as a result, nor have Jamaican Hot
pepper plants become the kudzu of NZ. However, I can understand the
government's concerns about introducing foreign organisms - right now the
forests in Ohio are suffering from a pine beetle imported from Europe, and
in recent years we have a new nuisance of Asian "ladybug" beetles that swarm
in the autumn and are pushing out the native varieties. Don't even ask
anyone in Florida or Hawaii about introduced exotics.
If a government agency chooses to destroy a shipment instead of returning
it, they ought to compensate the parties involved. However, fairness and
government practice can be very far apart. Here in the US they are fond of
tearing apart homes, boats and vehicles in search of anything illegal, and
they are not responsible for repairing their damage. They seem to consider
it as a fun bonus part of their jobs.
- A
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