Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Re:sending seed overseas, 0 by brical1

brical1 wrote:
For a few years now I have been posting seeds to various people in other countries...these are in small amounts(not natives or restricted) and of no commercial value.I have always declared this and filled out a customs declaration form detailing botanical name and my details which is then attached to env before posting(p.o keep second copy).I have never had any probs doing this and cost has always been below $2. Today I encountered p.o employee who tried to charge me $10 for the small amount that I usually send...I used a small (smallest ) post bag.. they had no objections to me sending seeds at this stage,but when I queried this and said I usually pay below $2 for postage and then replaced bag with an env ...I was told that I would need to get a ref no from customs before I could post seeds.I have never encountered this prob before...... Have the rules changed in regards to sending seeds overseas...if anyone has encounted this same prob please tell me the outcome....I have contacted aqis and am expecting to hear back from them tomorrow.