CITES and Nepenthes seeds

[Sockhom]

Hi !

With all these Nepenthes seeds being offered on Ebay recently, i've been asking myself some questions and haven't been able to provide a clear answer.

Nepenthes rajah and khasiana excepted (registered in annex I), is it legal to sell or trade Nepenthes seeds (annex II) without any permit?
I found it is clearly forbidden for the species from Madagascar (ie masoalensis and madagascariensis) because of the special recent annotation but what about all the other species?


Friendly,

François.

[Michael Catalani]

Whether or not you need additional permits to bring in any plant material will be dependant upon the laws of your country.

For example, in order to bring plant material into the US, I need a general plant import permit. If its a CITES appendix I plant, I also need a CITES permit. Other plants/seeds may require other special permits.

Your country's agriculture department is usually the best place to start asking.

[Sockhom]

Thanks Michael but i still don't get everything.
If the law of my country is ok with importing seeds (no need of permit for example), is it ok to collect wild seeds of Nepenthes species from annex II and sell or trade them without any authorization?


François.

[Michael Catalani]

Well, now you have to deal with another set of laws.

Whether or not seed collecting is legal depends on where the plant is located. Some locations may require you to have a permit to collect seed, other locations may not. Some locations may allow you to collect seed from certain species, but not others. A species which is legal to collect without a permit in one area may be illegal in another.

And then you get into an area of property ownership. In the US, property owners can usually do whatever they wish with plant material on their own property, and even if an area requires a permit, this doesnt usually apply to property owners. But this also means that just because you have a permit to collect in an area does not mean you are allowed to enter private property to collect without the owners permission. That would still be illegal, even with a permit.

[Sockhom]

Hello Michael .


I've just found the answer i've been searching for.
This link leads to CITES appendice II:

www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml

At he bottom of the page, you will find the Nepenthes genus:

NEPENTHACEAE Pitcher-plants (Old World)
Nepenthes spp. #1 (Except the species included in Appendix I)
Nepenthes khasiana
Nepenthes rajah

Just click on the "#1" and you will read this:

#1 All parts and derivatives, except:
a) seeds, spores and pollen (including pollinia);
b) seedling or tissue cultures obtained in vitro, in solid or liquid media, transported in sterile containers;
c) cut flowers of artificially propagated plants; and
d) fruits and parts and derivatives thereof of artificially propagated plants of the genus Vanilla

This clearly means that it is not illegal to trade or sell Nepenthes seeds from the species listed in appendice II.

BUT we should consider that plants from protected areas such as National Park or private lands or by nature, protected from seed collectors (but not from unconscious owners ^-^).

Still, i do not feel comfortable with all the seeds sellers. I hope they have all harvested in a responsible manner.



There has been a very recent note which protect all plants from Madagascar from pollen to plants. I will try to find the english version.

Here is the french one:

cites.ecologie.gouv.fr/v1/upload/No...%202005.059.pdf

This is the second section:

"2. Aucun spécimen d'une espèce végétale couverte par la CITES, y compris les graines,
spores, pollen, cultures in vitro et fleurs coupées, ne peut être exporté sans être couvert par
un permis d'exportation."

This roughly means:

"No specimen of any vegetal species covered by CITES, including seeds, spores, TC culture and cut flowers cannot be exported without a proper exportation permit"
This clearly means that N. madagascariensis and masoalensis are protected even at seeds level but the text does not state that the species from Madagascar are now listed in appendice I.



François.