If you fly in on a particularly busy travel date to a major airport, they are too busy to check or even read the customs declaration. In so doing, I brought in a declared piece of vine, 'balcony', Geranium from France through Logan Airport in Boston. A friend says that there is a 12 plant, roots well washed, loophole that a traveler can use. But when her party went to get their plants in, the government inspector wanted one hour for each person in the party. Typical idiot government worker. So they smuggled them in and got away with it.

I've brought back dried material for herbarium use without a permit, but I've been told that having a permit expedites the process. I applied for one, and it states that it covers "admissible nursery stock, plants, & roots not subject to postentry quarantine; seeds of trees and shrubs and also seeds covered in part [7 CFR] 319.37-6". I've had no problems bringing material in although I've been asked for a list of species, and specifically asked if I had certain families (such as barberry family in NYC arriving from England/Europe, and citrus family in LA arriving from Australia/New Caledonia). There might be closer scrutiny when bringing in live plants, particularly in regard to phytosanitary considerations. I avoid bringing plants on the CITES lists and make a point, both verbally and on my written list, that I don't have any listed species. I have found some variation in degree of scrutiny, but have encountered no real problems in LAX, Miami, JFK or Charlotte. Most of the time they have let me take the shipment with me, but where they haven't, it helps to sign a form authorizing the charging of a shipment by courier to one's credit card. If they want to keep the shipment, it is often because a weekend or odd-hour arrival means there is no one currently at the airport qualified to make the proper examination. Of course successful smuggling would mean no hassle at all, but I have found that if the inspectors can see that you are being completely honest and cooperative, and you are sincerely trying to comply with the regulations, they tend to respond favorably. So I would suggest checking "yes" to the agricultural question on the customs form, asking to see the USDA inspector, and hopedly you will have a favorable experience. Regulations change, so it helps to be cooperative even if an item turns out to not be admissible. The worse that can happen is that you are denied permission, but if you didn't bring it back with you in the first place, you would miss out completely anyway. Bring all labels and anything concerning any phytosanitary precautions or treatments with you to show to the inspector. Apparently there are entry points where others have had less favorable experiences. Good luck, and I look forward to reading about your experiences in this forum.

Bob