If you are ready to pay for your seller to order this certificate - it definitely will do no harm and guarantee the delivery even in case US customs will select your parcel for inspection. It can be expensive and a lot of hassle for this person to provide it. Some out of country sellers just plain refuse to do it. They prefer to take the risk. In EU countries it is not easily accessible because they are permitted to ship house plants inside the union without a phyto. In backwaters... sometimes the request for certificate will be a reason for their tax guys to try to levy taxes on a home business - and nobody wants it.

If it is something super valuable and rare and your correspondent is willing to do it - why not. If it is another Russian AV - they eventually all make their way here and I will be reluctant to part with another $30-50.

I had an experience with a seller in Poland this summer: he did not offer phyto certs. and I took the risk. After a delay of almost a whole week during which time tracking showed no movement after entering customs, I despaired of ever receiving my plant. Then suddenly, tracking showed the box "out for delivery." Yup, after two and a half weeks, the box certainly was delivered - empty, except for a small sheet of paper inside stating the plant had been seized for lack of a phytosanitary certificate. Fortunately for me I was dealing with a good guy and he contacted me, seeing how long it had taken to arrive, worried about the viability of the plant. When I told him what had happened, he immediately refunded my money, which I appreciated but I'm still not going to try to order without a certificate again. As Irina says, those varieties will eventually make their way to the States and I've decided I'd rather be patient than to play roulette.

Yeah...I ordered some AV related stuff (not plants) from Romania - month and half later it arrived. The guy on ebay went out of business - everybody was demanding a refund. The Romanian tracking ended at the airport - and then it was somewhere .. probably in customs warehouse in NY.

I think the way how customs check the boxes is more sophisticated now - and there is a way to detect a plant material during the scanning.

i.

Fortunately, it appears, ... I received my order a few days ago. The plant was in good shape, if a little pale ...

IN YOUR CAPABLE HANDS...IT WILL LIVE AND PROSPER!