| Importing Orchids to EU |
| Written by Petri | |
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Page 1 of 3
 We have a modest collection of orchids at home, and once you get started, you will want some more. So, we started to look for more information on how importing would be legal. Importing orchids is limited by CITES, which stands for Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora, and it protects plants and animals from illegal import or export. CITES as such is needed, but we started to wonder whether it applies in case of orchids that have been propagated by a professional grower, and that have not been removed from the wild. After looking up information from the Customs office of Finland, we concluded that if you buy the orchids grown up from cells in a sterile bottle, in vitro, then there would be a chance to bring in the orchids into Finland, legally! The whole story goes like this... Siriporn Orchids FarmPrior to our trip to Pattaya we looked up the name and address of the local orchid farm from Google. At Pattaya we checked with the front desk that the farm is open, and off we went, in the back of a Tuk-Tuk to the rural side of Pattaya. The owner of the farm, Mr. Moo gave us very nice "guided tour" in good English, and then let us to wander around at our own leisure to take pictures. Mr. Moo was quite positive towards us, once it was clear to him that we are not from England. In the past some English couple had bought Mr. Moo's own hybrids, result of work of many years, and won some competition in England, without attributing the work done at Siriporn Orchids Farm. Luckily, no negative history with Finns! After long photo session we finally went to visit the bar and shop of the farm. Mr. Moo's daughter was attending the bar and shop, and she offered for sale orchids grown in vitro.
 Baby Orchids
 Receipt from farm The receipt we received from the farm was as official document as such farm can provide. It is their receipt stating that the orchid seedlings are healthy and grown at the farm. It does NOT represent the official proof of origin referred to in the CITES, but with such small stake, we decided to give it a try with the customs. Naturally, we had to pack the bottle into our hand package for the flight back to Finland, to ensure that the orchids stay warm enough, and that the bottle with the growing gel is positioned the right side up. In the customsThe moment of truth. We decided already before the trip back that what we do is the following: I will walk to the red line, and state that I plan to bring these orchids into the country if that is ok. The lady I discussed with wanted to see the bottle, and I also showed her the receipt from the farm. She did not see a problem importing the orchids, but said that she will double-check with her superior. So, next I was explaining to another lady the same story how these baby orchids have been propagated. While explaining her, a couple of male customs officers came by and were interested in the orchids. Although the superior said that I am free to bring the orchids into the country, even though I do not have government official proof of origin, I spent more or less 10-15 minutes talking with the customs officers - as one of them had just seen a program on TV about an Englishman who had made a couple trips to jungle to find new orchids. So, the end result was that the superior at customs made the decision to allow us to bring the orchids into the country, with the farm's proof of origin. She did say that if I had brought more than this one bottle then she would have required further paperwork or health inspection at Finnish plant disease laboratory.
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