Come on, man. I know from the years how stubborn you can be. And that you may not like me. But you explicitly said that it requires both a phytosanitary certificate AND a 2 year quarantine. Which is now the thing you told me I am hung up over not understanding that they are the same thing.
I was just trying to understand how some people here, who claim to have talked to US importers (you, SouthernMaple, Kievnstavick, Orion_metalhead), say completely different things from people who actually imported plants from Japan into the US (CanadaBonsai, Bob Hunter). Now, this OP guy cannot get his Italian olive into Cali. But it seems like you can absolutely buy bonsai from Japan, import them into the US quickly. And that it is relatively simple. You just need to work with USDA and buy from a Japanese grower set up for export to the US. Which just contradicts your 'is a complicated, time consuming process'-line.
I get that you got this info from someone you trust. And maybe it was true for what they were trying to do. But when speaking in general terms, it is misinfo.
Glad you solved that problem for us! Now we can expect a flood of easily available imported bonsai from Japan...right?
Oh, yeah, no, we can't because the process is complicated, time consuming and not easy for those unfamiliar with it as you continue to demonstrate with your crossed-up clueless posts. You can surely find someone who imports easily, but they're either
sold out of stuff, or have relatively steep pricing (might be because of the investment they have plowed into their import stock, but that could be my imagination, who knows).
Importers are relatively easy to find if you have the time to chase them down. There used to be an importer of nice bonsai up in Annapolis, MD near me, but he was apparently kind of shady and went dark a decade ago. Of course you can work through one of the growing contacts in Japan, like Bjorn, Adam Jones at
Treehouse Bonsai, or
Seiji Morimae at S-cube bonsai. Reputable folks in the US also help import. I've already listed a few of those for azalea, Dave Kruetz and
Rick Garcia . I believe
Bill Valavanis has also helped people import trees . Sure you can get a imported tree fast, but hope you like azaleas, cause that's what it will be. If you want an Ezo spruce, black pine, Japanese maple or other species you will have to wait. No "fast lane" for much of that at the moment.
I say all this because this has always been the case. Even though I've been called (depending on the backhand verbiage used--a liar at worst, a "misleader" at best), the fact remains, for the normal beginner, intermediate or even expert bonsaiist in the U.S., importing is not an easy process. To get a particular tree selected outside of the pre-approved and marketed trees already through the certification process, takes time and patience. The OP ran into this problem in trying to get a tree from Europe, which started this discussion.
You can't just choose a tree at random at a Japanese nursery and expect it to be here within a year, or even two. Ask anyone who has imported an actual pine or ume into the US. I've outlined repeatedly how the process works in the U.S. There are always exceptions, but two-year quarantine, phyto certificates and bare rooting upon entry into the U.S. is, by far, the most common path for imported trees from Asia (Japan, China, Korea and Southeast Asia). I've spoken with numerous importers, bought imported trees from them, seen-- first hand--what some vendors have lost after that importation process. I'm not talking about what I've read and misinterpreted, but about first-hand experience with the process and its requirements and impact.
FWIW, In his post above Glaucus makes some significant wrong assumptions and winds up comparing apples to oranges or apples to space aliens. For instance,
Constitutionally, federal USDA rules supersede state rules. In other words, Federal rules have to be met first, but states, like Cal. and Fla. have their own additional rules to protect their significant agriculture infrastructure. It's unclear if Canadabonsai is in Canada, but FWIW, the U.S. and Canada have different importing rules (
as that count is a US trading partner, as is Mexico) for some plants. Glaucus also appears to remain confused about quarantine and phyto certs. I have never said they are the same. What I have said is that importers can quarantine plants in the country they're sending the plants FROM ---OR a facility in the DESTINATION country. Either will work, as long as the facilities the trees are stored in meets USDA/APHIS requirements. This is all inside baseball though. It's not an easy set of rules to navigate, evidence the last three pages...
Bottom line, importing a tree from Japan for the average bonsaiist is costly and challenges the health of the plant. There are paths opening up that may change that, but I don't see a rush to open up more. The demand isn't yet high enough to support a wider market.
treehousebonsai.com
www.bonsainut.com
