Hello all,
I have been having a discussion with my fellow Master Gardeners about shipping citrus trees from the state of Florida.
I say that it is Illegal and there is NO shipping allowed.
There are others who have found websites that state it is legal only from certain places.
Does anybody on this forum know where we can find the definitive answer?
A case number, link, or just the flat out wording will be greatly appreciated.
I wrote another article for the MG newsletter and I have the fact that it is illegal to ship, transport or smuggle Citrus trees out of the state of Florida. They want to pull that part because there is so much conflicting information out there.
Your help will save my article and hopefully pass the word around about the dangers of Citrus trees from Florida.
Thanks!
Darren

You want to take the risk of canker and greening?

That's just it Mr Texas, I SURE DON'T!
But, you know how fickle the public can be and unless they understand or think it is illegal, they will bring it ALL in.
Darren

Last I knew it was illegal to move any citrus tree out of FL. Best I can recommend is contacting the USDA at http://www.usda.gov and see what they have to say. I think anyone that even considers getting a tree or budwood from FL is insane. With this latest storm I am willing to put money on the fact the both diseases have spread quite a bit.

It is illegal to transport any part of citrus except fruit into or out of the state. As I pointed out to someone wanting to get seeds from out of state, it would be legal to import or export the fruit and collect your own seeds, but movement of seeds into or out of the state is illegal. It is illegal to ship fruit from Florida to any of the citrus states (CA, AZ, TX, LA). It is even illegal to move citrus trees within the state if they were not grown in a screen enclosure.

Parts of LA are also under quarantine.

Thanks Gang,
You all have pretty much told me what I already knew. I have passed your responses on to the Master Gardener Extension agent. I also contacted a friend of mine that is an extension agent and is part of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. He sent me this link in case you are interested:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-12314.htm


Darren

If I remember correctly, it is illegal to move any citrus, citrus relative or foliage from such plants from Florida to any other state. Each country is treated separately, being governed by local laws. I believe I read, or it was pointed out to me earlier somewhere here abouts, that citrus plants can be trucked from Florida to Canada, providing the truck is sealed in Florida, and the seal remains intact until it reaches Canada.

I believe that all citrus fruits leaving the state must be processed at an approved packing house, using established processes designed to remove any canker residue.

The current Federal Regulations, regarding citrus trees and fruit, can be found at the link below. (Actually the same link Lazz has posted above)

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/citrus_canker/citrus_canker.shtml

Here is another link that contains information regarding the subject matter:

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/canker/maps.html

Lazz, because this, and similiar subjects pop up so often, and is of such importance to us all, I wonder if these, and other pertinent links on the subject, might be put at the top of this topic as a sticky post. Whenever some finds an applicable link, it could be moved to that location.

Ned

Ned, this is excellent information. too bad it is not on TV, radio and printed in every newspaper in the country. Most people do not know the severity of these diseases.

And in the second link is your answer...

Quote:

No citrus plants or plant parts may enter or exit Florida

I wish more people knew the laws, but unfortunately that doesn't stop some. I recently had a friend tell me about the cheap "illegal" citrus trees he got while he was over in LA.

I know it is just a matter of time, but we don't have greening or canker in this part of the state. Nursery stock here is more expensive, because the trees must be grown inside an enclosure with positive air pressure and treated with pesticides and chemicals to prevent the trees from contacting greening or canker. These rules will help reduce the spread of disease, but are worthless if people just ignore them.

Right now, I think Florida nursery stock is safer than LA citrus, but it still should stay inside Florida for now.

I understand the reason for a law forbidding the importation of out of state citrus trees into the state of Florida, and I support the law. This law was enacted to protect the Florida citrus industry from diseases and insects that were not already present within Florida. However, with greening, canker, leaf miners, aphids, scale, phpsorosis, exocortis, cachexia, viroid disease, fusarium, alternaria, anthracnose, sooty mold, septoria, scab, mildew, melanose, greasy spot, botrytis, black spot, nematodes, phytophthora, bacterial spot, tristeza, blight, psyllids and on and on I don't think out of state trees are going to bring any more harm than is already flourishing in Florida citrus. However, the law is the law and needs to be observed. - Millet

On August 19, My place was inspected (they called it a survey) by USDA officials from SC. This was after my regular state nursery inspector ask if I would be agreeable to such a survey. I will discuss what took place in a seperate post.

Ned

The place this information needs to be posted is at the point of sale, where citrus trees are being offered for sale to the public. Additionally, all quarantined plants should be tagged to specifically alert buyers that it is against the law, and contrary to the public good, to transport the plants out of the quarantined area.

Ned you are correct, but I doubt that a seller in another state is going to post a notice saying "It is illegal to take this tree into Florida". As always "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse". Actually, I don't think the vast majority of sellers care in the least what the buyer does, or does not do, with his new tree. - Millet

Plow - Plant - Fertilize - Harvest - Repeat

I agree Ned-- I know the fruit has a notice in each bag saying that it cannot be exported to LA, TX, AZ or CA.

The citrus trees at big box stores like Lowes already have tags on them certifying inspection and treatment--they could easily add the notice to those tags.

Yes Florida already has plenty of it's own problems, but those diseases are not everywhere inside the state--we certainly don't need to import them from other states into the areas that are disease free.