Ebay Seeds & Weeds - Prohibited Items - Morning Glories (!)

All,

With the seed and propagating season upon us my elderly mother has asked me to research for her what she can and cannot put on ebay, she only had a few items of the normal ipomoea purpurea you get in any store and some pink moonflower roots now she has given them away to friends. She is a very nervous person and with what I discovered I thought I would share my findings about something I did not know, sweet potato weevil.

I like to feel I am protecting members here and the environment and we all want to act in a legal manner; this is not just about ebay but about a serious pest that infects ipomoea and can cause vast economic damage. Take Ebay out of the equation and this is a serious pest.

When you see these weevils you must take action to destroy them and obey laws.

Thanks to Ebay they have educated my family.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/weedsandseeds.html

"eBay does not permit the listing of noxious weeds and prohibited seeds on the site. Please see the Additional Information section for a link to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s federally defined noxious weeds. Buyers and sellers of packaged seeds should consult with state and local authorities to determine whether the items they are considering buying or selling are legal for distribution in their states"

I looked closer at the Additional Link Information and it directed me here and gave me information I did not even know about things like germination!

Noxious weeds: Some federal, state, and local laws prohibit the sale of certain types of plants or seeds that are considered "exotic" or "noxious" weeds. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits the importation and interstate movement of federally defined noxious weeds.

Packaging and Germination dates: Many state laws limit the time period after packaging or germination testing within which agricultural or vegetable seeds may be sold. If listed on the packaging of the seeds, sellers should include in their item description the dates of packaging and germination testing.

It then directed me to the state by state list

http://www.nationalplantboard.org/laws/index.html

I wondered the reason why so I sent them a message and this is what they said

"We sympathize with you Mr XXXX however eBay urges its sellers and buyers to comply with all governmental laws and regulations. Since the sale of plants and seeds are in some cases prohibited, regulated or may cause harm to eBay or its members, sellers are restricted in their listing of them on eBay and we will enforce these regulations with great vigor, we urge you to research state by state what you are able to sell as the movement of ipomoea can be restricted due to sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius elegantulus, even if an item is not classified as ipomoeas batatas this area can be complex and it can still be restricted"

I did more research at http://www.nationalplantboard.org/laws/index.html

I was aware of prohibited plants but not the weevil and the amount of damage this could cause to people whose economic well being depend on this crop. See here - http://www.gardenguides.com/pests/pestinfo/sweetpotatoweevil.asp

And the USDA site here - http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/193345.html

Here is the type of damage they can do http://www.larsen-twins.dk/50weevil.html

As follows -

STATES REGULATED: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC, TX
SWEET POTATO WEEVIL QUARANTINE
PEST: Sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius elegantulus Summers
MATERIALS REGULATED: Sweet potato weevil in any living stage; (2) Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam., and the genera Ipomoea and Convolvulus, any roots, plants, vines, cuttings, slips, draws and other vegetatively propagated parts; or other parts which may to be hosts of the sweet potato weevil.

They also told me that the import of any living plant material (including seed) to Australia is strictly regulated by Australian authorities and my auctions must be clearly listed as so not to sell to Australia, New Zealand or Singapore and make people aware in Canada that they requiire a permit see here http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/seesem/abce.shtml and if I was going to sell any other morning glory seed my auctions must be listed CANNOT SHIP TO ARIZONA

So any little seed I have harvested this year from the awful weather will be given to my local school marked "not for human consumption keep out of reach of children"

So please be careful outside the scope of auctions even when you swap and trade to keep the vine weevil away from anywhere it can cause damage and educate others.

Thanks for the info - I wish all of us were as conscientious about spreading problem plants and bugs. In our global economy, it's going to be a challenge.

I saw this little weevil on my fence this morning. I had never seen a bug like this before so stood there a little while and wondered if it was an ant or some kind of spider. Guess I should have killed it, but it looked harmless enough.
I don't have any sweet potatoes, so it must have been after my morning glories. We have a lot of wild morning glories in the area since we are living in the country.