When I was still living in Manila, Philippines, I had a modest
collection of Euanthe sanderiana, which Filipinos refer to as
"waling-waling". Most of the lot came from established orchid
sellers/dealers, while a few were given to me as gift. With regard
to their origin, whether they were lab-grown or harvested from the
wilderness, I never truly knew. Said plants flourished under my care
for years until I left the Philippines.

Here in the US, I found some dealers of Euanthe sanderiana via the
Internet. I contacted three of them and ordered some pieces from
each. I am happy to note that, at the present, even if I only have a
humble set up of baskets bearing said orchids in my California
apartment's east-facing windows, my plants are flourishing!

Well, my US work contract will end in 2007 and I will return to the
Philippines soon afterwards. I will bring back with me most of the
stuff that I own and love, including my apartment plants. But, I
don't know how CITES impacts endangered flora trafficking, and how it
relates to non-commercial transport of plants.

Which of the following thoughts running through my mind is/are
correct?

1. I am not involved in commercial plant selling/reselling. I am
merely a hobbyist who likes growing the waling-waling, and I would
like to bring along my apartment specimens back to the Philippines.
How would the US Customs and the Philippine Customs officers deal
with such a case?

2. Endangered species are NOT supposed to be taken out of their
natural habitat. Meaning, harvesting the waling-waling from the
wilderness is a violation. In my case, though, what I have are very
likely lab-grown waling-waling plants.

3. Furthermore, I am not removing said endagered plants from
Philippine forests and spiriting them away to some other country ...
I am, in fact, bringing them along with me as personal effect.

HELP?

1) Euanthe sanderiana is a CITES Appendix II species, so international
trade is permitted.
2) CITES does not apply in this case, as there is no TRADE going on.

Those points made, you have to deal with authorities interpretation of the
rules, but I would hope that it would not be an issue.

From the US' perspective, there is nothing to be concerned about, as they
have absolutely no jurisdiction on your move and relocation of a tropical
plant that is not a native.

The bigger (and probably ONLY) issues are obtaining a phytosanitary
certificate for the plants before you ship them, obtaining an import permit
from the Philippines, preparing them for the importation process, and
getting them "through the door" once you get there.

However, the absolute best way to deal with the whole issue is to simply
send them to me.
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Jose" <jafcrisostomo [at] yahoo-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:aIZ6g.40$hB6.172106 [at] news.sisna.com...
> When I was still living in Manila, Philippines, I had a modest
> collection of Euanthe sanderiana, which Filipinos refer to as
> "waling-waling". Most of the lot came from established orchid
> sellers/dealers, while a few were given to me as gift. With regard
> to their origin, whether they were lab-grown or harvested from the
> wilderness, I never truly knew. Said plants flourished under my care
> for years until I left the Philippines.
>
> Here in the US, I found some dealers of Euanthe sanderiana via the
> Internet. I contacted three of them and ordered some pieces from
> each. I am happy to note that, at the present, even if I only have a
> humble set up of baskets bearing said orchids in my California
> apartment's east-facing windows, my plants are flourishing!
>
> Well, my US work contract will end in 2007 and I will return to the
> Philippines soon afterwards. I will bring back with me most of the
> stuff that I own and love, including my apartment plants. But, I
> don't know how CITES impacts endangered flora trafficking, and how it
> relates to non-commercial transport of plants.
>
> Which of the following thoughts running through my mind is/are
> correct?
>
> 1. I am not involved in commercial plant selling/reselling. I am
> merely a hobbyist who likes growing the waling-waling, and I would
> like to bring along my apartment specimens back to the Philippines.
> How would the US Customs and the Philippine Customs officers deal
> with such a case?
>
> 2. Endangered species are NOT supposed to be taken out of their
> natural habitat. Meaning, harvesting the waling-waling from the
> wilderness is a violation. In my case, though, what I have are very
> likely lab-grown waling-waling plants.
>
> 3. Furthermore, I am not removing said endagered plants from
> Philippine forests and spiriting them away to some other country ...
> I am, in fact, bringing them along with me as personal effect.
>
> HELP?
>

Ray, while I think you are generally correct, it is possible that the
Phillipines may require a US export permit, on the far end. I have seen that
happen with other countries. Kenni

"Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
news:UYadnWgX2fh8DMHZRVn-qg [at] comcast.com...
> 1) Euanthe sanderiana is a CITES Appendix II species, so international
> trade is permitted.
> 2) CITES does not apply in this case, as there is no TRADE going on.
>
> Those points made, you have to deal with authorities interpretation of the
> rules, but I would hope that it would not be an issue.
>
> From the US' perspective, there is nothing to be concerned about, as they
> have absolutely no jurisdiction on your move and relocation of a tropical
> plant that is not a native.
>
> The bigger (and probably ONLY) issues are obtaining a phytosanitary
> certificate for the plants before you ship them, obtaining an import
> permit from the Philippines, preparing them for the importation process,
> and getting them "through the door" once you get there.
>
> However, the absolute best way to deal with the whole issue is to simply
> send them to me.
> --
>
> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>
>
> "Jose" <jafcrisostomo [at] yahoo-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:aIZ6g.40$hB6.172106 [at] news.sisna.com...
>> When I was still living in Manila, Philippines, I had a modest
>> collection of Euanthe sanderiana, which Filipinos refer to as
>> "waling-waling". Most of the lot came from established orchid
>> sellers/dealers, while a few were given to me as gift. With regard
>> to their origin, whether they were lab-grown or harvested from the
>> wilderness, I never truly knew. Said plants flourished under my care
>> for years until I left the Philippines.
>>
>> Here in the US, I found some dealers of Euanthe sanderiana via the
>> Internet. I contacted three of them and ordered some pieces from
>> each. I am happy to note that, at the present, even if I only have a
>> humble set up of baskets bearing said orchids in my California
>> apartment's east-facing windows, my plants are flourishing!
>>
>> Well, my US work contract will end in 2007 and I will return to the
>> Philippines soon afterwards. I will bring back with me most of the
>> stuff that I own and love, including my apartment plants. But, I
>> don't know how CITES impacts endangered flora trafficking, and how it
>> relates to non-commercial transport of plants.
>>
>> Which of the following thoughts running through my mind is/are
>> correct?
>>
>> 1. I am not involved in commercial plant selling/reselling. I am
>> merely a hobbyist who likes growing the waling-waling, and I would
>> like to bring along my apartment specimens back to the Philippines.
>> How would the US Customs and the Philippine Customs officers deal
>> with such a case?
>>
>> 2. Endangered species are NOT supposed to be taken out of their
>> natural habitat. Meaning, harvesting the waling-waling from the
>> wilderness is a violation. In my case, though, what I have are very
>> likely lab-grown waling-waling plants.
>>
>> 3. Furthermore, I am not removing said endagered plants from
>> Philippine forests and spiriting them away to some other country ...
>> I am, in fact, bringing them along with me as personal effect.
>>
>> HELP?
>>
>
>

Good point, Kenni, but I don't think that's true for the Philippines (but I
could be wrong...)

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Kenni Judd" <kenni [at] REMOVEjborchids.com> wrote in message
news:xsOdnY6smtVYfcHZRVn-pw [at] adelphia.com...
> Ray, while I think you are generally correct, it is possible that the
> Philippines may require a US export permit, on the far end. I have seen
> that happen with other countries. Kenni
>
> "Ray" <raybark [at] firstrays.com> wrote in message
> news:UYadnWgX2fh8DMHZRVn-qg [at] comcast.com...
>> 1) Euanthe sanderiana is a CITES Appendix II species, so international
>> trade is permitted.
>> 2) CITES does not apply in this case, as there is no TRADE going on.
>>
>> Those points made, you have to deal with authorities interpretation of
>> the rules, but I would hope that it would not be an issue.
>>
>> From the US' perspective, there is nothing to be concerned about, as they
>> have absolutely no jurisdiction on your move and relocation of a tropical
>> plant that is not a native.
>>
>> The bigger (and probably ONLY) issues are obtaining a phytosanitary
>> certificate for the plants before you ship them, obtaining an import
>> permit from the Philippines, preparing them for the importation process,
>> and getting them "through the door" once you get there.
>>
>> However, the absolute best way to deal with the whole issue is to simply
>> send them to me.
>> --
>>
>> Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
>> Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!
>>
>>
>> "Jose" <jafcrisostomo [at] yahoo-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:aIZ6g.40$hB6.172106 [at] news.sisna.com...
>>> When I was still living in Manila, Philippines, I had a modest
>>> collection of Euanthe sanderiana, which Filipinos refer to as
>>> "waling-waling". Most of the lot came from established orchid
>>> sellers/dealers, while a few were given to me as gift. With regard
>>> to their origin, whether they were lab-grown or harvested from the
>>> wilderness, I never truly knew. Said plants flourished under my care
>>> for years until I left the Philippines.
>>>
>>> Here in the US, I found some dealers of Euanthe sanderiana via the
>>> Internet. I contacted three of them and ordered some pieces from
>>> each. I am happy to note that, at the present, even if I only have a
>>> humble set up of baskets bearing said orchids in my California
>>> apartment's east-facing windows, my plants are flourishing!
>>>
>>> Well, my US work contract will end in 2007 and I will return to the
>>> Philippines soon afterwards. I will bring back with me most of the
>>> stuff that I own and love, including my apartment plants. But, I
>>> don't know how CITES impacts endangered flora trafficking, and how it
>>> relates to non-commercial transport of plants.
>>>
>>> Which of the following thoughts running through my mind is/are
>>> correct?
>>>
>>> 1. I am not involved in commercial plant selling/reselling. I am
>>> merely a hobbyist who likes growing the waling-waling, and I would
>>> like to bring along my apartment specimens back to the Philippines.
>>> How would the US Customs and the Philippine Customs officers deal
>>> with such a case?
>>>
>>> 2. Endangered species are NOT supposed to be taken out of their
>>> natural habitat. Meaning, harvesting the waling-waling from the
>>> wilderness is a violation. In my case, though, what I have are very
>>> likely lab-grown waling-waling plants.
>>>
>>> 3. Furthermore, I am not removing said endagered plants from
>>> Philippine forests and spiriting them away to some other country ...
>>> I am, in fact, bringing them along with me as personal effect.
>>>
>>> HELP?
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Ray,

I'm afraid 'trade' in CITES language refers to any movement across
borders, and not to one's intentions. So CITES does apply!

Weng


Ray Wrote:
> 1) Euanthe sanderiana is a CITES Appendix II species, so international
> trade is permitted.
> 2) CITES does not apply in this case, as there is no TRADE going on.
>
> [/color]


--
Weng

That's an unfortunate bastardization of the convention. It was developed
specifically for regulating trade (commercial sales), but has grown to cover
all, as you stated, Weng. What's worse is the "unlevel playing field" when
it comes to interpretation by the signatories individual responsible
agencies.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Weng" <Weng.27guvz [at] gardenbanter.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Weng.27guvz [at] gardenbanter.co.uk...
>
> Ray,
>
> I'm afraid 'trade' in CITES language refers to any movement across
> borders, and not to one's intentions. So CITES does apply!
>
> Weng
>
>
> Ray Wrote:
>> 1) Euanthe sanderiana is a CITES Appendix II species, so international
>> trade is permitted.
>> 2) CITES does not apply in this case, as there is no TRADE going on.
>>
>> [/color]
>
>
> --
> Weng

Hello. I was gone for awhile. I'm pleasantly surprised that there
have been replies to my inquiry. Very enlightening.

So, please accept my thanks to you - Ray. Kenni and Weng.

And, Ray, should I encounter any trouble getting Philippine import
permit for my plants, I'll willingly part ways with one of them and
send it to you.

Regards,
Jose

PS
I have a BUNCH of Paphiopedilum sanderianum seedlings, too, from
reputable US dealers. Domestic-grown. Not realizing how slow they
grow, I bought a couple of flasks recently. Will these, too, be OK
to bring along with me when I go home?

Again, thanks.

Again, I'll throw my two cents in, and remind you of the subject of
interpretation.

If they are still in the flask, they are - by definition - sterile and
artificially propagated, so neither phyto nor CITES issues should apply.
Ex-flask, and if the governing bodies interpret your travels as "trade", you
may not take them, as they are an Appendix I genus.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Jose" <jafcrisostomo [at] yahoo-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:l3i8g.126$1l.131201 [at] news.sisna.com...
> Hello. I was gone for awhile. I'm pleasantly surprised that there
> have been replies to my inquiry. Very enlightening.
>
> So, please accept my thanks to you - Ray. Kenni and Weng.
>
> And, Ray, should I encounter any trouble getting Philippine import
> permit for my plants, I'll willingly part ways with one of them and
> send it to you.
>
> Regards,
> Jose
>
> PS
> I have a BUNCH of Paphiopedilum sanderianum seedlings, too, from
> reputable US dealers. Domestic-grown. Not realizing how slow they
> grow, I bought a couple of flasks recently. Will these, too, be OK
> to bring along with me when I go home?
>
> Again, thanks.
>