Chicago Customs seed removal.

CashCrops

CashCrops

Well-Known Member
Hello RIU. I have a question for you. Has anyone recently had their seeds confiscated from any US Customs agents? I ask this more specific the "Chicago customs" but any will do. I have reached out to Shane Pennington Lawyer who asked me this:

Hey there (Redacted),

The fact that the seeds are federally legal doesn’t necessarily and automatically mean that the seizures you’re describing are actionable in court. To determine whether and to what extent they are, I’d need more information. Can you send me any documentation? You mention that the Customs Center sends letters to folks whose seeds they seize explaining that the seeds are illegal etc. Do you have a copy that I could review? A screenshot would be fine for this purpose.

So the reason I ask here is there may be a way to take legal action against them. I have personally had seeds taken several times. I dont have the documentation at this time so Im reaching out here.

If this is the wrong place for this I apologize as well and please move it.
If we can prove they did something that violates current federal (I believe they do this because no one has challenged them) then we may get things changed in the future.

If you respond, please let it only be if you have picture evidence, I know everyone is going to have an opinion but lets save the arguing for later please.

And, NO Im not trying to start a class action lawsuit to get paid, I want these people who steal are seeds to be held accountable!
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Yeah. What he said. They aren't confiscated because they are cannabis. They are confiscated because they don't have a phytosanitary certificate to authorize them to be imported. I don't think you will make much progress in that fight.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
You'll get absolutely nowhere. Consider the seeds gone. If you did want to waste time and money on an attorney I would find someone that knows something about customs. They should have been able to find the standard intercept form letter online. There really isn't a damn thing you can do once your package is seized by customs. They seized it for a reason. You're SOL.

I'm surprised the attorney you contacted needed a screenshot. To me 5 seconds with a google search to find the generic form letter that's used.

customsletter.jpg
 
DrDukePHD

DrDukePHD

Well-Known Member
Literally there is only ONE way to change things in government, you hire a multi-million dollar lobbying firm & they sway the favor of dozens of lawmakers for you.

Then, the next time a spending-bill passes, a small unnoticed ammendment is added saying "Chicago customs shall not spend $ on enforcing seed seizures from X addresses to X addresses".

There's no shortage of great lobbying firms, do you have 10 million dollars to start? Forget the lawyers, it'll never happen, they'll just take your $.
 
CashCrops

CashCrops

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
You'll get absolutely nowhere. Consider the seeds gone. If you did want to waste time and money on an attorney I would find someone that knows something about customs. They should have been able to find the standard intercept form letter online. There really isn't a damn thing you can do once your package is seized by customs. They seized it for a reason. You're SOL.

I'm surprised the attorney you contacted needed a screenshot. To me 5 seconds with a google search to find the generic form letter that's used.

View attachment 5198296
Click to expand...
This hasnt happened to me in years but I did contact a lawyer and this is what he's looking for. However they'll get away with it because the cert thing like others have stated.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
CashCrops said:
Thanks, I sent the pic from above to the lawyer maybe he'll find something.
Click to expand...
He'll find that there is nothing that can be done once the seeds have been seized. Without a phytosanitary certificate the seeds which are classified as plant products are not allowed into the United States. There is a reason for those requirements. You can't just have people importing anything they want. It's a risk to the agriculture sector. I'm not saying that there is any danger from cannabis seeds but since seeds fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture cannabis seeds are treated like any other. People have just been ignoring it for years and slipping things through. Once they're seized all the lawyers in the world can't do anything about it because it's a violation of well defined federal regulations. There is a process that can be followed and if it isn't any packages seized that didn't follow that process are gone for good. There is no appealing, lawsuit, or other remedies available.


Purpose and scope. The regulations in this part prohibit or restrict the importation into the United States of certain plants, plant products, and other articles to prevent the introduction and dissemination of plant pests and noxious weeds within and throughout the United States. The regulations in this subpart provide a process under which a controlled import permit (CIP) may be issued to authorize the importation, for experimental, therapeutic, or developmental purposes, of an article whose importation is prohibited under this part. A CIP may also be issued to authorize, for those same purposes, the importation of an article under conditions that differ from those prescribed in the relevant regulations in this part.

Federal Register :: Request Access

www.ecfr.gov
 
CashCrops

CashCrops

Well-Known Member
OK, to clarify this. Im not paying! the lawyer I contacted has gone up against the DEA before, successfully. He's not charging anything!

At most, I would think he might try and get cannabis seeds removed from the cert list requirement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TCH
J

jdoorn14

Well-Known Member
CashCrops said:
OK, to clarify this. Im not paying! the lawyer I contacted has gone up against the DEA before, successfully. He's not charging anything!

At most, I would think he might try and get cannabis seeds removed from the cert list requirement.
Click to expand...
Dude, if tulip bulbs and other seeds from freely propagated flowers/plants are still on the customs cert list (which they are) getting cannabis seeds removed is going to be a pretty fruitless effort.

Also, careful with those "you only pay if we win" lawyers. There's literally no cash payout in this if they win...but that lawyer's gonna be on you for every penny they spend and every second they think about this case in the 0.00001% chance that they win.
 
R

RottyRzr

Well-Known Member
RottyRzr said:
I ordered some hot pepper seeds from Europe and they were seized by customs. If I remember correctly it was Chicago. I received a letter stating they were confiscated due to risk of importing some kind of plant disease. I'll see if I still have the letter.
Click to expand...
Just found the letter and the customs site was NY. Check out the remarks section. These were hot pepper seeds from Semillas La Palma in Spain. Customs Letter.png

I sure didnt order any water spinach. From wikipedia:

​
Ipomoea aquatica
Ipomoea aquatica, most widely known as water spinach, is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots.

I ordered hot pepper seeds!!
 
Last edited:
CashCrops

CashCrops

Well-Known Member
RottyRzr said:
Just found the letter and the customs site was NY. Check out the remarks section. These were hot pepper seeds from Semillas La Palma in Spain. View attachment 5200177

I sure didnt order any water spinach. From wikipedia:

​
Ipomoea aquatica
Ipomoea aquatica, most widely known as water spinach, is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots.

I ordered hot pepper seeds!!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Ill hand this off to Shane. Hopefully something will come of it. The more of these the better!
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
CashCrops said:
Thanks, Ill hand this off to Shane. Hopefully something will come of it. The more of these the better!
Click to expand...
That is the exact same standard form letter I posted. The seeds lacked proper documentation and they were seized. You can collect all the seizure letters you want but absolutely nothing will come of it. There is absolutely nothing that can be done and any lawyer worth anything will tell you the same thing. If they're not then they're just stringing you along to collect a fee.

I don't understand why you are spending time on this. The rules are clear. Agricultural products require proper documentation to be imported. Those rule exist for a reason. It's not just the United States, almost every country has import rules that are supposed to be followed.

There is absolutely nothing you can do. Any lawyer that you're talking to should know this. I hope you're not paying anyone for a fruitless attempt at arguing your seeds were confiscated without cause. There is absolutely no legal recourse that is available to you. It's time to move on.

I use absolutely numerous times to make a point. It's absolute that there is nothing you can do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top