Cleistocactus cafuffle

Greetings folks!
I recently placed an import order for seeds and thought I had checked all species import status before ordering.
All except one, the humble cleisocactus.
I double checked today and what do you know, it has been classified as a weed and importation is prohibited!
I didn't bother to check it before ordering as it seemed rather pointless doing so, it's fairly common here and as far as I know it's not invasive.
But apparently it's a weed!
Guess that packet won't be making it through customs..

Hopefully they don't trash the whole order over one packet.
It wasn't terribly expensive but would still hate to lose my entire order all for 1 packet.
Guess I'll just have to wait to hear from customs!

They'll likely just yank that packet and put a warning leaflet in it I think...the rest should come through okay if labelled and allowed....

cliestocactus... lol. i can see why some would call it a weed.
interesting choice of seed to grow walker. you must have some odd n strange seeds on order.

Here's hoping they just throw out the banned ones, discovered another banned one later.
Guess there's a few interesting types I ordered. No method however just picked at random.

I don't understand the customs reasoning sometimes. I can understand opuntias being classified a weed but surely not cleistocactus.

Having said that I have always wonder what the results would be if one was to find a remote patch of dirt out west and spread tens of thousands of cactus seeds, only to return in 20 years.....

Funny the way Aquis works out it's a weed species when it is one of the most common cacti in collections and Botanic Gardens.
I have a standing order from a big wholesaler for 5000+ Pilosocereus azurez seedlings a year, despite it being common in collections and sold all over the country by another massive wholesale producer, I can't import a single seed and don't know of a local supplier so it is an order I can't fill. Such orders are like bread and butter for small businesses and often make the difference between success and failure for the little guy. But AQUIS just have a policy that is rigid with no thought about the logic of it or the knock on effects.
Sneaky, I think the result of that experiment would be a few ants and birds being a little bit better fed for a short time...... unless there were a few Cliestocactus or Pilosocereus seeds in there then the whole country would be over run!
But seriously there is a point to controlling weeds and preventing insect pests and diseases from making it into the country however there are plenty of people with less regard for the rules than myself who find ways of importing banned seeds and even whole plants that could harbour all kinds of pests and micro-organisms without Quarantine ever knowing. Perhaps driving things underground means quarantine is actually less effective. There are collectors out there who care more about getting what they want than they do about the law or the harm they might do to the ecology of our country.
Having a rant here I know but I hate it when having conscience and being morally or legally correct puts the person with good intentions at a disadvantage....and it is so often the case!

Hahaha nice one crypto. I agree. It is important to protect the country from pests and diseases but at the the same time there needs to be a some representation of the ever elusive "common sense" phenomenon.

I didn't quiet understand why it would be classed as a weed. To be honest I didn't really bother checking that particular one as I am aware of how common it is and so just assumed it would be fine. I double checked some of the more unusual ones figuring they would be more likely to be banned.

I'm now faced with a moral conundrum, if they all get through which I suspect they might, should I destroy the banned ones?

The reasoning behind what is banned doesn't seem to make sense a lot of the time and there is no information as to how or what they've based their decision on.

I am not sure how decisions are made as to what is and is not likely to be a weed but I think that if Cliestocactus or Pilosocereus are likely to become weeds then that horse has already bolted, so to speak. Both species have been here for a long time and are widely available to anyone who wants one. However the rules are rules and we have to follow them.
I declared some heirloom tomato seeds when I came into the country from overseas a few years ago. I thought tomatoes are everywhere so they couldn't be a potential weed. It turned out that tomato seeds are banned for import because they could carry viruses that are not in Australia yet. So the seeds were destroyed and I learned that the people in charge of deciding what is and isn't allowed in know things about the issues with quarantine that most people don't. It is therefore best for us to comply with these rules. They are very serious about enforcing the rules so it must be for good reasons.

this thread now makes a song play in my head....

Queen. "the world we created".

Not a fan of Queen so I had to Google that one. Not a fan of god creating the world either but nice sentiment in that song.
Above all else.....FEAR NOT.....wert


Watermelon seeds are permitted!

In Thai it is called tang-more.

cryptocarpa wrote:

I am not sure how decisions are made as to what is and is not likely to be a weed but I think that if Cliestocactus or Pilosocereus are likely to become weeds then that horse has already bolted, so to speak.
...

I recently read a CSSA article which indicated that *all* cacti in QLD were illegal before 1994 due to the fear they *might* spread like the prickly pear.  The QLD cacti ban was eventually overturned - but only as a result of enthusiasts in QLD making representations to the gov't.

cryptocarpa wrote:

Not a fan of Queen so I had to Google that one. Not a fan of god creating the world either but nice sentiment in that song.
Above all else.....FEAR NOT.....wert


Watermelon seeds are permitted!

In Thai it is called tang-more.

what! god made the earth crypto. are you tripping mate?
who do you think developed and marketed the mc donalds franchize.
hell yeah it was him! twas god mo fos!

lol. it was also god that placed watermelon in the vegitable class of foodies...

we all know its fruit but cause its in the fruit section at the supermarket!
same as the previous mention bout' tomatos. those are not fruit cause they aint found in the fruit section. and god organizes the fruit n vegies @ supermarkets so there!

god is sexy.