FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello, I'm a huge fan of both Heliamphora and Nepenthes and I have found that a lot of the sought after species are usually out of stock with the USA distributors and nurseries. Because of this, I am trying to get an import permit so I can start checking rarer species off my wanted list. After doing a lot of research, I've seen that I need a regular import permit which costs several hundred dollars and lasts for a couple of years as well as a CITES permit which costs 70 dollars and lasts also for several years to import plants such as rajah's, ionantha's, etc. Furthermore, I also need one phytosanitary certificate per each order at 25 dollars each.
My main concerns are that the plants will have to be quarantined for a long period of time or they might be confiscated by the USDA. as well as the shipping process and what to expect.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I love this forum because everyone here has the same interests as me and everyone is so welcoming!

Some people who get the permits sometimes recoup some of their permit money by organizing a group buy.
All participants pay some share of the permit fee.
Normally, the permits allow the plants to breeze through customs.

But these are not normal times.
Due to CoVid, government workers are being shifted around and some departments are being cut back.
Your plants could be hung up and die, waiting for inspection.
But they wouldn't be confiscated if you had the correct permits.
I don't have direct experience with this situation, but I would suggest you hold back on any big oversea orders until things settle down.
I think Hollyhock used to have the permits and she did some oversea group orders.
You could PM her although she's now more active on FB than the Forum.

Just my 02¢ worth.

Most overseas sellers of helis and neps, such as Andreas Wistuba, cover permits for you. You just have to pay the $70 or whatever for shipping. All of Wistuba's US orders at a specific time of the year are sent overseas in one huge box, and that big box gets through customs quite fast. Then it goes to his US distributor, who splits up all the plants and sends them via USPS to individual customers. Usually, once orders from him ship, they arrive at your door less than two weeks later, sometimes just more than a week. I would not recommend ordering overseas from individuals at this time. I placed multiple overseas orders, and the packages either took a month to arrive or were confiscated. There's 23 heli species, I believe, and all of them are in cultivation in the US. They're not necessarily cheap haha, but occasionally they go up for sale. Jeremiah Harris has a relatively large heli list with many species available currently.

If you want to get plants from a distributor that doesn't cover permits for you, the process isn't too complicated but does take a little effort. I think it all just became "virtual" in our current situation in the US, so that should make it easier. When I did it, I had to go to the closest USDA office and apply for an ePermits account. Once approved, you can simply apply online through the USDA ePermits system to get a permit. You specify the species you want to import and from which countries. It's not hard at all, but certainly is tedious.