Your tax dollars at work

[jackb]

Sometime in February I purchased a Trilye olive seedling on Ebay from a seller in Turkey. The post office lost the package and it was well over a month before the plant arrived. It was in shock and pretty near dead, so I put it in the garden and finally on the first day of summer I found it coming back to life.

Today I was paid a visit by an SITC officer from the USDA who confiscated the tree for destruction. It seems that it is not permitted to purchase any plant material, including seeds from foreign sources. This guy drove a huge SUV from Rouses Point, near the Canadian border, all the way to Troy to confiscate a twenty dollar tree. He looked over my plants and said I could apply for a permit to import trees, but I would have to have them shipped to their facility for inspection and quarantine for a month. Apparently they have agents who monitor Ebay sales and then track you down, after the fact. I can't believe the time he spent driving here, interviewing me, filling out forms, and the cost of gas and lodging over a twenty dollar tree.

I told him to check Ebay, as there are literally hundreds of items like this for sale and they should stop it at the source. It seems like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike if you ask me.

Only in America!

Jack B

 

[897tgigvib]

Jack, my best guess is that inspector was probably just some bum the gove'ment hired to keep off the streets...

They prolly have another bum monitoring my posts!

 

[jackb]

Jack, my best guess is that inspector was probably just some bum the gove'ment hired to keep off the streets...

They prolly have another bum monitoring my posts!

I told him Ebay sells hundreds of items like this everyday and he would be employed for a VERY long time. He said my tree, which was shipped bare root and was now the picture of health, could spread a virus. Like yeah, it will effect all of the Trilye olive trees in the US. All one of them.

Snowden was right, they are everywhere. It reminds me of the Latin quote: cave cave deus videt. Beware beware God is watching, only it is not God but Uncle Sam.
,
Jack B

 

[so lucky]

You bought it in February, didn't receive it till late March or April, and now, nearly August, they finally come and take it? What if it HAD been diseased? It could have infected half of New York by now! Good Grief!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_schlarbaum002.htm

American Chestnut Blight, Butternut Canker, and American Elm Disease.

In this article, exotic fungal diseases means imported.

Sorry Jack but you get absolutely no sympathy from me. If you knew how devastated Dad was by the destruction of the Chestnuts by that blight you might understand. He was still hurting many decades later.

Lets cut their budget some more. Maybe we can make it even harder for them to do their jobs.

 

[jackb]

The salient point being, invasion of privacy. They had my Ebay user name and a record of sales. Did they get a court order, or do they have a direct feed from Ebay? Do they watch everything you purchase? Why not go to the source and prevent Ebay from conducting sales of this material? Because Ebay is making a profit on every sale. Our government imported killer bees for an experiment and let them loose. Go to Ebay right now, there is all kinds of items like this for sale: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PISTACIA-TE...368?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f270b2c88

Too bad about your trees.

Jack B

 

[baymule]

Jack, that really sucks that you could get the tree shipped from Turkey and the long arm of the government finally showed up months later. Like you said, why not just start with Ebay and NOT let these sales to go through. And yes, the government is watching-everybody and everything. Every computer, land line call, cell phone call, even mail addresses are all sent the Utah Data Center where they are being stored for perpetuity. Of course this is for our own good, to keep us safe from terrorists.

And I agree with Ridgerunner on the import of foreign plants without going through quarantine.

 

[seedcorn]

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_schlarbaum002.htm

American Chestnut Blight, Butternut Canker, and American Elm Disease.

In this article, exotic fungal diseases means imported.

Sorry Jack but you get absolutely no sympathy from me. If you knew how devastated Dad was by the destruction of the Chestnuts by that blight you might understand. He was still hurting many decades later.

Lets cut their budget some more. Maybe we can make it even harder for them to do their jobs.

Agreed!!!!!!!! People have brought in so many problems. It would be better if caught before shipped in but at least it was caught. Now if we can find the scum that released the snakes and other vermin in USA and punish them................boa's, Asian carp, etc.......

 

[jackb]

Their approach to the problem is flawed; there are any number of sources other than Ebay: Amazon, Craig's List, private individuals. It is still a finger in the dike approach. Rather than educate the public they are chasing down purchases made in good faith by people who simply saw and purchased an item. This person had no clue, he was looking for an Olea europaea, and there are a few thousand varieties. I could have given him any junk tree to destroy and he would have gone away happy. The person I bought the tree from had dozens of seedlings for sale, and I am sure any number got through. Why not stop it in the postal service? As it came from the middle east I am sure it was scanned with X-ray equipment. As it is, the process is a waste of time, and taxpayer's money. A drop in a bucket.

Jack B

 

[Fred]

I agree with Ridgerunner.
If those were my tax dollars at work, then my money was reasonably (but not efficiently) spent.

You make some good points though Jack.
It wasn't handled as professionally as it could have been.

Now if they can focus hard on preventing suppliers from importing here, they won't have so many purchasers to track down later.
And yes, that's easier said than done.

:/